Pacenotes Rally Magazine - 62

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£3.6

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rally magazine

the best irish and uk rally action every month!

Ray Collects Hankook Forestry Title!

OPEL FRUITSSUPER SLEUTH

Breen Better!

97

71

47

37

25

07

3

62

ISS

N 1

473-7

256

Never

Mouthwatering Manta 400

DOUBLE TOPSMcCloskey’s Down & Bushwhacker Bullseyes

Jonny Mac Considers

ITC Future

www.pacenotes.net

SUPER SLEUTHJonny Mac Considers

Harnesses

Intercoms

Co-Driver Accessories

Omp trend FIA .....................£185.00Sparco Sprint FIA ................£195.00Sparco FIA ...........................£350.00

Fire Marshal 4.0 Litre System £144.68 Mechanical 360 System ........£295.00Electrical Gas 360 System ....£339.00Hand-Held 1.75 Litre ................£32.34Hand-Held 2kg 360 gas .........£175.00

Red Top Competition Pump Kit ............£63.00Red Top Pump ......................................£53.00Bosch Inj Pump ...................................£135.00Filter King ...............................................£29.79S/Steel Overbraid fuel Hose Per Metre . £8.00Millers CVL .............................................. £5.50Pro Boost ................................................. £7.95Weber 45 DCOE ................................£220.00

Sparco Safari from ............£85.11Sparco RAC from ............£85.11Sparco PRO ...........£85.11OMP WRC .£80.00Steering Wheel Hub £28.00

Graytronic IntercomsClubman Set ...........................£110.00Spare Headset .........................£37.00 Practice Pair .................£130.00 Peltor Intercoms Peltor FMT 110 amp ....£135.00 Battery Eliminator ..........£22.00 Practice Headset ...........£97.87

R

Seats

Sparco REV Plus ..£P.O.ASparco EVO ...........£P.O.ASparco PRO 2000 ..£P.O.ASparco Sprint (V) ....£95.00Corbeau Pro .........£220.00OMP RS ..........£150.00Recaro SPG ....£349.00Alloy Side Mounts .................... £30

Don Barrow Poti Light MKB6 ..£80.00Avanti Map Light from ..............£18.00Co-Pilote Stopwatch ................£69.00Fastime 2 Stopwatch ...............£12.77Fastime 11 Stopwatch .............£25.53OMP Brief Bag .........................£20.00Sparco Director Bag .................£32.00

Tripmeters

Terratrip 202 + with probe..£153.00Brantz Laser with probe..£200.00Brantz Int 2 with probe...£153Monit Rally Computer ......£299

Sabelt 75mm 6 Point FIA .........£95.32TRS 75mm 6 Point FIA ............£78.30TRS 75mm 6 Point L/W FIA ....£97.87TRS 6 Point FIA Hans .............£78.30SRS 75mm 6 Point FIA ...........£78.30

Steering Wheels

Escort Mk2 Parts

Suspension & SteeringBilstein Grp 4 Adj Strut ................£175.00Alloy Spring Seat 1” Deep ..............£8.00Alloy Spring Seat 3” Deep ............£14.00Alloy Lock ring .................................£6.50Alloy Top Cap D-Hole ...................£12.00Alloy C-Spanner ............................£12.00Bilstein 300/70 Insert .....................£75.00Bilstein 300/100 Insert ..................£75.00Alloy Top Mount 2-Piece Grp 4 ....£72.34Alloy Top mount & Nut ..................£64.00Electric Power Steering Kits .......£750.00Mk2 Quickrack with Bronze Bush ..£235.00Grp 4 Steering Joint Cast .............£25.53Gen Ford Green track Rod End ...£21.00In Situ R/J Gen Ford T.C.A. ...£145 EachIn Situ R/J Q/H T.C.A. ..............£79 EachGrp 4 TensionSturt Kit .................£300.00Bilstein Grp 1 Rear Damper .........£68.00Bilstein Grp 4 Rear Turret .............£70.00Bilstein Coil-Over Damper ..........£120.00Watts Linkage Kit Atlas ...............£225.00Axle & TransmissionFully Floating Grp 4 AtlasAxle casing .........................from £400.00Group 1 Atlas Axle Casing .from £395.00Steel Spit Lock Rings LH/RH .......£12.00Spring Saddles ..............................£20.004 Link Brackets ..............................£30.00Grp 1 2-Piece Halfshaft (18 tooth) £89.36Grp 4 Halfshaft F/F (18 tooth) ......£85.11Grp 1 Halfshaft Flange ..................£65.00Grp 4 Halfshaft Flange ..................£55.00ZF Motorsport L.S.D. Unit ...........£638.30ZF Side Gear .................................£65.00Ford C.W.P 5.1 & 4.6 Set ...........£220.00Tran-X Club Gearkit 5 Speed .....£595.00Alloy Astra 16v to Ford Bellhousing ..................................£140.43Tran-X English LSD ....................£391.41Brake PartsMk 2 Bias Pedal Box (Cable) ....£199.00Mk 2 Bias Pedal Box (HYD) .......£242.00Mk 1 Bias Pedal Box (Cable) .....£235.00Tube-Adjustor (Mk 2) ...................£29.00Flexible Click Dash Adjustor .........£30.00AP & Girling Reservoir ..................£14.00Alloy Pro HYD Handbrake Kit ......£93.62HYD Handbrake Kit ......................£40.00Ralloy Vertical Handbrake ..........£106.38Master Cylinder .625, .700, .750 ..£28.00Alcon - 15" Front Brake Kit 304 x 28 Disc, Disc Bell & Alloy 4 Pot Calliper.. .............................£899.00Alcon - 13" Front Brake Kit -267 x 21 Disc, Disc Bell & Alloy 4 Pot Caliper ................................£825.00Alloy ProductsAlloy Tarmac Arches Mk 2 Set ...£245.00Alloy Front Spoiler .........................£59.00Alloy Front Arch .............................£59.00Alloy Front Arch 15” Wheel ...........£75.00Alloy Rear Tarmac Arch ................£65.00Alloy Shaped Tank & Filler ..........£169.00Alloy Inj Tank & Filler ...................£190.00Fuel Tank Fitting Kit & Straps .......£68.00Alloy Dry Sump Tank ....................£89.00Rear Lamp Protectors ...................£14.00Alloy Strut Brace ..........................£48.00Alloy Catch Tank............................£40.00Alloy SumpGuard 8mm Chassis Mounted ........................£199.15Alloy Radiator ..............................£195.00Pace Astra 16v Dry Sump Kit ..........£695Pace Corsa 16v Dry Sump Kit ........£695Pace Ford Duratec Dry Sump Kit ...£695

®

®

®

8 x 13 ...£89.367 x 13 ...£80.006 x 13 ...£76.60

Minilite Mag Wheels

Lifeline Fire Systems

Instruments

Elliot Clubman Tachometer.....£105.00Stack Oil Pressure..............£50.00Stack Water Temperature.....£35.00Stack VoltMeter.................£27.00Stack Clubman Tachometer.....£180.00 Stack ST 8100...........£725.00

Corsa Parts

Race Boots GlovesSparco Pro Driver ..................£90.00Sparco Top 3 ..........................£79.00Sparco Speed Way ................£69.09Sparco Slalom ........................£63.00

Sparco Flash .....£37.00Sparco Wind ......£65.00Omp Speed .......£26.00

Sparco pro-jet .........................£165.00New peltor G78 whitewith (hans) ..............................£320.00New peltor G78 grey / silver(with Hans)..............................£330.00New OMP Jet4 with Hans .....£299.00Peltor Helmet Bag ....................£31.00Sport Hans 200........................£345.00Pro Hans 200 ...........................£445.00

TransmissionQuaife F13/F15 Synchromesh 5-speed Gear Kit with Final Drive Ratio 4.5-4.8 £1350.00Quaife GM Gearlever ................... £340.00Quaife GM Turret Housing .......... £475.00Helix Padle Clutch Plate ................ £82.00Helix Clutch Cover ....................... £105.00F15 L.S.D. Unit Plate Type .......... £450.00Brake ComponentsAlcon Front Tarmac Brake Kit – 4 Piston Caliper 300 x 26 Disc and Caliper Mounting Bracket .........£1,200.00Balance Bar Pedal Box (Grp A) .. £175.00Dash Adjuster Click type ................ £30.00Girling Reservoir ............................. £14.00Alloy Handbrake kit ........................ £93.62Suspension ComponentsAdjustible Strut casing (Grp A) ...... £75.00Bilstein Insert 270/120 ................... £97.8721/4 x 12 Spring All Rates ............. £17.00Alloy Spring Seat ............................ £14.00Alloy Lock Ring ................................. £6.50Steel Top Cap ................................. £14.00Alloy Top Mount (Spherical Bearing) £65.00Bilstein Front Strut & Insert .......... £195.00Bilstein Rear Damper ..................... £95.32

Roll BarsSparco 16-Point Roll Cage .......... £350.00Safety Devices CDS Weld-in Cage £499.00

THE OLD RECTORY, AUGHER, CO TYRONE BT77 0BN CLOSED SUN AND MON, OPEN TUES-THURS 9.30AM-9PM

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7 x 13" 4 spoke gp4 ......................£76.008 x 13" 4 spoke gp4 ......................£80.869 x 13" 4 spoke gp4 ......................£89.377 x 15" 5 spoke gp4 ......................£89.378 x 15" 5 spoke gp4 ......................£93.629 x 15" 5 spoke gp4 ......................£97.88

Revolution Wheels

Underwear

Helmets

Race Suits

Sparco Nomex Top ..................£39.00Sparco Nomex Pants ...............£32.00FIA Balaclava ...........................£18.00Nomex socks ............................£10.00

Fuel Pumps/Accessories

Omp trend FIA .....................Omp trend FIA .....................Omp trend FIASparco Sprint FIASparco FIA ...........................Sparco FIA ...........................Sparco FIA

Race Suits

PROFESSIONAL MOTORSPORT EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES

TEL: 028 855 49851 • FAX: 028 855 49855www.montgomery-motorsport.co.ukemail: sales@ montgomery-motorsport.co.uk

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assistant editor (Irl)jonathan [email protected]: 07989283055

assistant editor (UK)phil [email protected]: 07771768657

deputy editorpete [email protected]

design & productionjeremy purdy [email protected]

cover photojohn bayly

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Pacenotes is published on the last Wednesday of each month.

This magazine is copyright mooneymedia ltd 2008. Contents may not be reproduced in any form or stored on any electronic system, without written permission. All rights reserved. No responsibility is accepted for any unsolicited material. Reasonable efforts are made to ensure the contents are accurate, but the publishers can accept no responsibility for the effects arising there from. Reasonable care is taken while accepting advertisements, but no responsibility can be accepted for any resulting transactions.

distributed byWNS NI, Easons & Newspread ROIMMC Ltd - UK Mainland

contentsthe

Issu

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Ray Collects Hankook Forestry Title!

OPEL FRUITSSUPER SLEUTH

Breen Better!

97

71

47

37

25

07

3

61

ISS

N 1

47

3-7

25

6

Never

Mouthwatering Manta 400

DOUBLE TOPSMcCloskey’s Down & Bushwhacker Bullseyes

Jonny Mac Considers

ITC Future

www.pacenotes.net

SUPER SLEUTHJonny Mac Considers

03pacenotes.netnovember 2008

04FULL CHATnews round-up

18DUNLOP NATIONALdonegal harvest

45IRISH TARMAC FUTUREwith jonathan macdonald

12BUSHE’S BLOGwith andrew bushe

24ANCRObulldog rally

52NIRCbushwhacker

16QUESTION TIMEwith james kennedy

32NIRC down rally

58 EVO CHALLENGEbulldog rally

14 - BALLYBOLEY RALLY TTclubman rally action

22 - NICKY GRISTnicky’s column

27 - CLUBMAN CORNERclubmen in action

28 - GSMC MINI STAGESbaltinglass round-up

30 - PERFORMANCE CARfiat abarth

36 - JUST JAMESon the credit crunch

38 - RX RACINGhigh adrenaline racing

42 - WRC ROUNDUPspain & france rally action

49 - IRISH JUNIORSfinal round-up

50 - CHEVIOT NATIONALrally round-up

60 - NEED FOR SPEEDwith ray gavin

63 - SYSTEM SIGNS RALLYrally round-up

64 - QUESTION TIMEwith daniel conaghan

67 - TULL OF MULLisle of mull round-up

68 - UK CLUBMANclubmen across the water

71 - IRISH FORESTbirr stages rally action

78 - CLASSIFIEDSrally marketplace

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE www.pacenotes.net

04 pacenotes.netnovember 2008

FULL CHAT...

Simon MooneyEditor

Tel: +44 (0)28 40660 [email protected]

Star

tlin

e

Welcome to issue 62 of Pacenotes, the UK and Ireland’s

only rally magazine!

It’s that time of year when the championships start winding up,

and new champions are crowned.

I can’t believe I’m saying that already - it seems just like yesterday that the season was kicking off . But

here we are once again!

Eamonn Boland is the Global Group Irish Tarmac champion,

Patrick Elliott is the Dunlop National champion, Ray Breen

is the Hankook Irish Forestry Champion, and by the time you

read this, either Conor McCloskey or Sean Devine will be the

Pacenotes NI Rally champion.

It’s great to see new faces putting their names to the crowns,

and of course there are many newly crowned class champions out there

as well.

Keith Cronin also deserves a special mention this month. As you can read in the news story opposite, he was selected to represent Ireland at the Pirelli Star Driver shoot-out.

He stunned the opposition with quickest stage times, but sadly lost

out on the top awards in the end.

Not to worry Keith, keep your head up! You certainly have support

from the Irish rally fraternity behind you, and who knows what

2009 will bring?

� at’s all for this month. Make sure you look out for December’s bumper Christmas edition where we’ll have a round-up of all major

rally championships!

Keep safe on the stages,

All new faces...

Cronin’s Refl ection Of Pirelli Star Driver European Shoot-out...Irishman Keith Cronin narrowly lost out on the Pirelli Star Driver prize after the fi nal European shoot-out leg of the competition. Cronin, who was selected to represent Ireland in Pirelli’s search for up and coming rally talent, travelled to Austria with his Mitsubishi Lancer in a bid to take the coveted prize.

19 drivers impressed the judges in a variety of assessments, which included interview and pace note making skills, as well as driving on two diff erent stage locations (one tarmac and one gravel). Cronin set fastest times over the tarmac stages and fi nished second in overall stage times when combined with the gravel loop.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all about

the fastest stage times and in the end, Cronin fi nished seventh while the fastest driver, Hermann Gassner, fi nished fourth. � e judges – Walter Rohrl, Michele Mouton, Mario Isola, David Evans, Joao Passos and Kevin Morris – awarded the prize to Finn Jarkko Nikara and Czech Republic driver Martin Semerad. � ey have both won a prize drive in next year’s PWRC for the same team

in equal machinery.“It was a very good

exercise and good to be a part of it,” Cronin told Pacenotes. “We probably would have been fastest overall, only we were held back by another car. You had to do two laps of the stage and a Fiesta was released in front of us just as we were going to do our second lap. But that’s the way it goes!”

Cronin is eyeing up a campaign in the 2009 British Rally Championship and his selection to represent Ireland should stand by him when searching for potential sponsorship. Rally Ireland is also on the cards, and potentially a few other events, so 2009 could be a pivotal year for the young man’s rally career.

Draperstown driver Marty McCormack has won this year’s Irish C2R2 Cup, and with it has taken the fi rst prize of a C2R2 Max kit worth £28k/€35k!

McCormack only received details of the prize at the championship prizegiving on Saturday 1 November, and was a welcome boost for the Irishman, who already had the kit on order!

It was also announced at the prizegiving that the British Rally Championship’s C2R2 Cup winner would receive the same prize. � ere are still four drivers who are in with a shout of winning, and the result will be decided after December’s Rally GB.

As part of the prize, both McCormack and the UK winner

will travel to Citroen Sport’s headquarters in France on Wednesday 10 December where they will receive their awards. It is also being mooted that both drivers will take part in a test session, although this has yet to be confi rmed.

Meanwhile, plans for the 2009 championships are well underway, and full details will soon be announced by C2R2 Cup co-ordinator, Raymond Moore.

McCormack wins €35k worth of C2 R2 MAX kit!

01/11 Townparks Glens of Antrim 01/11 Cambrian Rally (Llandudno)01/11 Kingdom Stages (Crail, Fife)02/11 Malton Forest Stages (Pickering)02/11 Talbenny Stages (S Wales)06/11 Lombard Rally (Harrogate)07/11 Blackhorse Stages (Isle of Man)08/11 Coulter Demolition Rally Time Trial09/11 Kerry Mini Stages09/11 MEC Rallysprint 08/11 Glyn Memorial stages (Anglesey)

08/11 Tempest Rally (Aldershot)09/11 Lynn Stages (Sculthorpe)14/11 Roger Albert Clark Rally (Leeds)23/11 Carfax Stages (Longcross)23/11 Neil Howard Stage Rally (York)29/11 Grizedale Stages (Coniston)04/12 Rally Wales GB (Cardi� )07/12 Galloway Hills Rally (Castle Douglas)07/12 Carlow Rallysprint27/12 Cork Rallysprint28/12 Carlow Rallysprint

� e Northern Ireland Clubman Championship is set to be resurrected next year with a new 2WD Tarmac Rally Challenge!

Pacenotes received a copy of the draft regulations, and seven events are being proposed, beginning with January’s New Year Stages Rally. Other events include the Ballypatrick, Mourne, Lough Neagh, Davagh, System Signs and Gullion Stages.

Five of the seven events will count towards the fi nal championship standings, with the overall winner awarded free entry for two rounds of the 2010 N.I. Rally Championship. Further details will be in next months edition.

NI 2WD Clubmans Challenge

November/December 2008


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AT...Give Us Your ViewsLog On today at: www.rallyforums.com

Rumour has it that the 2009 Circuit of Ireland Rally - scheduled for 11/12 April - is heading south and may be based in Dundalk, Co. Louth. According to sources within the UAC, the day one stages will have fi ve repeated locations which should include the full Hamiltons Folly and the two long stages in the Newry area used on the opening day of the 2008 event. Day two will see three stages run twice, to the west of Dundalk.

� e rally will incorporate the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, and has been added to the 2009 Richard Egger Insurance MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship. � ere is some discussion as to whether the rally will be an international or a national event. Another issue could involve running an MSA event from a base in southern Ireland. � is throws up the conundrum of using HANS devices, which will be compulsory on all MI events from January ‘09.

Circuit To Break With Tradition?

With Wales Rally GB moving back to mid-Wales for the fi rst time since 2000, the event is set to generate huge interest this year with the inclusion of classic tests such as Sweet Lamb, Hafren and Myherin. It will also be interesting to see if Sebastien Loeb can fi nally win the event and add it to his fi rst Rally Finland win this year. Entertainment on the Saturday evening at the Millenium Stadium will be provided by all girl pop band � e Saturdays. More info & Tickets at www.walesrallygb.com

Pacenotes photographer Seamus Counihan has released details of his 2009 rally calendar. Printed A3 size with two images per month, featuring some top class images taken during the 2008 season from the world of Irish rallying, if you’re a fan of the sport and want to keep track of the action during 2009, log on to www.crspics.com and snap it up before it sells out!

A brand new Irish Rally Championship has been given the green light for the 2009 season. � e Excel Rallying Multimake Championship off ers some of the best prizes seen in European rallying, and will reward the quickest drivers in Irish rallying.

With a fi rst prize of a fully supported drive in the 2010 Irish National Championship with a Super 1600 car, as well as a mouth-watering array of other top prizes, competitors will be revving up at the prospect of the 2009 season.

� ere are 21 counting rounds for the series, of which competitors must choose 10 to contest. � eir best eight scores out of those 10 events will count towards the fi nal standings, and those competitors that win their class will go on to contest a ‘Race of Champions’ type event – where everyone will be in equal machinery.

It’s a novel idea and will breathe some fresh air into the Irish rally scene. With enough competitors registered for the series, it could be one of the most competitive championships in the country. More information can be found online at www.excelrallying.ie.

Determined not to be too downhearted after the cancellation of the Killarney Historic Rally, Killarney and District Motor Club will host an Historic Social Night on Saturday 29th November. Commencing with a three-course meal followed by a rally forum, the night will be topped off with a live band and disco.

Some surprise guests are being mooted, although no names have been confi rmed as Pacenotes goes to print. � e evening will be held at � e Avenue Hotel, Killarney, and tickets can be purchased by telephoning Joe on +353 (0)86 2833 509 or Gary on +353 (0)87 2239 141.

Killarney Historic Social

Pacenotes is pleased to announce that next month’s edition will include a free copy of Demon Tweeks’ catalogue. Suppliers in racewear, competition and tuning parts, the catalogue will be invaluable for those looking to purchase items ahead of the Christmas market.

Demon Tweeks Catalogue

01/11 Townparks Glens of Antrim 01/11 Cambrian Rally (Llandudno)01/11 Kingdom Stages (Crail, Fife)02/11 Malton Forest Stages (Pickering)02/11 Talbenny Stages (S Wales)06/11 Lombard Rally (Harrogate)07/11 Blackhorse Stages (Isle of Man)08/11 Coulter Demolition Rally Time Trial09/11 Kerry Mini Stages09/11 MEC Rallysprint 08/11 Glyn Memorial stages (Anglesey)

08/11 Tempest Rally (Aldershot)09/11 Lynn Stages (Sculthorpe)14/11 Roger Albert Clark Rally (Leeds)23/11 Carfax Stages (Longcross)23/11 Neil Howard Stage Rally (York)29/11 Grizedale Stages (Coniston)04/12 Rally Wales GB (Cardi� )07/12 Galloway Hills Rally (Castle Douglas)07/12 Carlow Rallysprint27/12 Cork Rallysprint28/12 Carlow Rallysprint

� ere are now two venues in Ireland that are licenced Motorsport Ireland competitor coaching venues. Co. Waterford’s RallyConnection has joined Rally School Ireland, and provides budding new competitors in the south an opportunity to complete the ‘Introduction to Motorsport’ course.

Rally Connection

Snap it up!

Tuned Up For Wales…

� e Northern Ireland Clubman Championship is set to be resurrected next year with a new 2WD Tarmac Rally Challenge!

Pacenotes received a copy of the draft regulations, and seven events are being proposed, beginning with January’s New Year Stages Rally. Other events include the Ballypatrick, Mourne, Lough Neagh, Davagh, System Signs and Gullion Stages.

Five of the seven events will count towards the fi nal championship standings, with the overall winner awarded free entry for two rounds of the 2010 N.I. Rally Championship. Further details will be in next months edition.

New Irish Rally Championship For All

Motorsport Ireland has released a statement explaining why it refused to grant KDMC a permit for the 2008 Killarney Historic Rally, arising from issues identifi ed by them on the 2007 event. � e full statement is available for perusal on several Irish rallying websites, but the key points are as follows…

MI found that it could not grant a permit this year due to:“…the inadequate nature of the radio system; the failure to

supply a proper safety plan in a timely fashion and failing to operate an event and a course car schedule that allowed offi cials adequate time to ensure compliance with the event safety plan...”

� e MI statement also says: “� e Committee also asked for a meeting with event offi cials but received little or no cooperation, leading to several months delay by KDMC. Eventually the Club was informed it would not receive a permit for the 2008 rally due to its failure to engage with the Rallies committee on the matters raised in the Stewards reports for the 2007 rally. It was off ered one fi nal opportunity for a meeting to avoid this outcome, in Tullamore on the 26th July. Only then did KDMC arrange to send a delegation.”

“� e Motorsport Commission subsequently received a further delegation from KDMC on 24th September, which made further proposals to deal with the issues raised by the Rallies Committee. � e Motorsport Commission considered the matter further but was not satisfi ed that the Club’s proposals adequately met the issues raised. It decided that the event should not be allowed to run in 2008.”

While safety is paramount in rallysport, many in the KDMC may feel a little hard done by. Irish rally politics doubtless played apart in this matter, but it is essential that this popular event returns to the 2009 rallysport calendar.

Historic Decision…


NEWS

Forest of Dean Motor Club are going to run Historic classes on next year’s Wyedean rally, behind the 1400 runners and ahead of the main field. There will be classes for Historic, Post-Historic and Classic cars as well as an overall winner. The event will offer 44 prime forestry miles in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley on February 7th, 2009.

Wye Aye To Historics…

Carlow Car Club recently got the MI ‘green light’ to host Carlow’s biggest sporting event of 2009, the Carlow Stages Rally. The rally will run on 10th May and be based at the Lord Bagenal Inn, Leighlinbridge, with scrutiny and parc ferme near by. There is also a new CoC in charge of the rally - Donal Meaney. The rally’s popular Mark 2 Challenge will attract Escorts from all over the UK and will be covered by On The Limit Sports and Mick Bracken. The club will also hold a mini stages rally on 8th November, 2009. Ken Tracy will be CoC for that event.

Two Crackers For Carlow…

The organisers of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship and BTRDA Asphalt Rally Series are delighted to announce that Richard Egger Insurance has confirmed its intention to remain as headline sponsor for the 2009 season.

The MSA Asphalt Rally Championship calendar takes in closed-road events in Scotland, the Isle of Man and both Northern and Southern Ireland, plus visits to both the Epynt and Otterburn Military Ranges. A keen competitor himself, Richard Egger commented, “At Richard Egger Insurance have enjoyed our involvement with the MSA and BTRDA Asphalt Rally Championships. They are great events, with good competition and nice people. What more could we hope for? We look forward to 2009 and to building on the success of this year.”

Regulations will be available in December and further details of both series are available from Championship Co-ordinator Andrew Haill at [email protected] or www.asphaltrallying.com.

Egger Backs Asphalt Assault...

The Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally on Sunday 7th December has all the ingredients for a classic end-of–season forest tussle, and if history is any guide it will be a surprise if an Irish crew is not in contention for overall honours. The rally is based in Castle Douglas, just one hour’s drive from Stranraer, and features 5 single-use stages with minimal road mileage and central servicing.

Stena have again come up with an attractive package for competitors using their high-speed ferry from Belfast, and an afternoon finish enables a return home on the evening crossing. A unique feature of this rally is the prize draw which provides a free

entry to the lucky entrant whose entry is drawn ‘first from the hat’ by the qualifying date.

The Galloway Hills also offers the unique prize system of awarding a free entry to the 2009 Galloway Hills Rally to the highest placed driver in each class on the 2008 event, subject to a minimum of 6 starters per class, and based on overall classification.

The Galloway Hills website, www.gallowayhillsrally.co.uk will not be accessible until Monday 3rd November. Until then, regulations are available from the Entries Secretary, Isobel Riddick, by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 01556 660 281.

Five drivers could have clinched the Mitsubishi Evolution Challenge title at the Bulldog Rally, but unfortunately Jonathan Greer was not one of them. After a luckless Challenge campaign, his aim for the weekend was to gather some valuable experience. 20 year old mechanic Jonny said, “The event was very enjoyable. I am very happy with some of our stage times, although it took us a while to really get going. It is good to end the season on a high note.” Jonny would like to thank Toyota Materials Handling, Carryduff Forklift and BOTT Ltd for their continued support.

Greer On A High…

Subaru’s Team Director Richard Taylor says that there could be five or six S14 WRC Subs competing on next year’s WRC. Taylor confirmed that Solberg and Atkinson were contracted for next year but he couldn’t confirm who might drive the other cars, saying only that Guy Wilks and Brice Tirabassi were in negotiations with the team.

Six-Pack For 2009…

Richard Egger of Richard Egger Insurance is becoming a familiar name and face in GB rallying, but few people know of his work to bring disabled people into the sport. To cut a long story short, Egger has a disabled friend who competes successfully in a hand control modified Impreza. Impressed, Egger decided to launch a disabled driver talent search through Loughborough Car Club…

“At a club meeting we decided to run a competition to find two willing disabled drivers and offer them a full season of club events at no cost,” Egger told Pacenotes. “In April this year were ran a disabled driver selection day and from eight entrants ended up with two drivers, Gary Edgecombe and Mick Brennan. These two have now taken part in ten events promoted by Loughborough Car Club – the regular summer series contested by a wide variety of club members. Both drivers have shown a healthy turn of speed to the point where they have beaten most of our regular members, In the club Autotest series they have finished first and second

in class, with Gary winning the last event outright. On the AutoSOLO series they look to be on for third and fourth, with one round to go, with a theoretical possibility of second and third if all goes stunningly well on the last round.”

“The car of choice is a 1300cc Nissan Micra with an automatic CVT transmission,” continued Egger. We have fitted the car with a range of adaptions to accommodate the majority of variations. Other than putting the car on a diet (removing the rear seat and spare wheel) and fitting a set of decent shock absorbers (courtesy of a club member who has not noticed that they are not in his workshop), no other specialist preparation has been done.”

Invaluable support for this ground-breaking project has come from: Disabled Information and Advice Line (DIAL); Advantage West Midlands; The Regional Development Agency; Loughborough Car Club; Dave Hawkins; Jeff Gosling Hand Controls; CG Lock; Carr Tyres & Richard Egger Insurance.

Disabled Pilots Outpace Regular Drivers!

Head For The Hills…


£1850 was raised during the Forest of Dean Motor Club’s recent Motorsport Evening at Cinderford Rugby Club in aid of Guy Wilks’ Back A Brit Campaign and local charities. The evening was compered by Pat Flynn and the panel consisted of Phil Collins, Alistair Roberts, Nik and Graham Elsmore, Craig Drew, Damian Cole and Cliff Simmons.

£1000 will be donated to Guy’s fund, with Dilke Memorial Hospital and the Air Ambulance receiving £425 each. The club would like to thank everybody who supported the evening and those who donated auction items, particularly David Richards, Phil Pugh and Urmo Avaa

Backing A Brit...

The organisers of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship and BTRDA Asphalt Rally Series are delighted to announce that Richard Egger Insurance has confirmed its intention to remain as headline sponsor for the 2009 season.

The MSA Asphalt Rally Championship calendar takes in closed-road events in Scotland, the Isle of Man and both Northern and Southern Ireland, plus visits to both the Epynt and Otterburn Military Ranges. A keen competitor himself, Richard Egger commented, “At Richard Egger Insurance have enjoyed our involvement with the MSA and BTRDA Asphalt Rally Championships. They are great events, with good competition and nice people. What more could we hope for? We look forward to 2009 and to building on the success of this year.”

Regulations will be available in December and further details of both series are available from Championship Co-ordinator Andrew Haill at [email protected] or www.asphaltrallying.com.

Down Rally On Skye PlusStornaway Rally ace Alisdair Graham and co driver Keir Beaton from Inverness were by far and away the further most travelled competitors on the recent F&M Contracts Down Rally. The 2007 Scottish Junior Rally Champion undertook the epic 865 mile round trip, which included a 3 hour ferry trip from the Isle of Skye to the Scottish mainland, to reach the County Down town of Castlewellan for round 9 of the Pacenotes NI Rally Championship.

Alisdair and Keir made a good start on the 2008 event and were not far off the class leader James Kennedy’s pace, but a wrong tyre choice on the middle loop of the event and then a loss of 20 seconds when they encountered a retiring competitor on the last corner of the last stage dropped them back 3 places in the final results.“Next year we will stay a little longer so that we can really enjoy the legendary Irish hospitality,” quipped Graham.

Trillick’s Alastair Fisher has been chosen as the wildcard entrant to represent Ireland at the forthcoming Fiesta SportingTrophy International Shootout 2008, which will take place over the 9th and 10th of December.

19-year-old Fisher will be competing against a number of other hopefuls including FST UK and IE winner, Elfyn Evans. The prize is a 12-month contract

working hand in hand with the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team during the 2009 WRC season.

“It’s great to be nominated for the shootout,” Fisher said. “I have had a mixed year, both in Ireland and the UK, and came so close to taking the title for the second time but it just wasn’t to be. But being nominated as the wild card entry for the shootout is a great confidence boost!”

Fisher Wins FST Wildcard Nomination

Subaru’s Team Director Richard Taylor says that there could be five or six S14 WRC Subs competing on next year’s WRC. Taylor confirmed that Solberg and Atkinson were contracted for next year but he couldn’t confirm who might drive the other cars, saying only that Guy Wilks and Brice Tirabassi were in negotiations with the team.


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bushe’s blog


Be a champion with Speedline Corse

� e Donemana-based driver is still very much in contention for the Northern Ireland Championship crown, but a score on the Down Rally would have left Sean with a lot less to do on the fi nal round in the Glens of Antrim. Indeed, a victory would have seen him seal the title.

Now he has to fi nish ahead of Conor McCloskey at all costs, a situation he feels could possibly have been avoided.

“I have to admit that I am quite annoyed at what happened, and I feel that we were treated unfairly,” Devine told Pacenotes. “It’s a rally I have supported over the past few years, but I feel I won’t be going to the event next year, even if it’s critical to the NI Championship. I put a lot of money and eff ort into rallying and I just don’t feel I will be taking my car to that rally again.”

Sean started the rally by dropping fi ve seconds to Conor McCloskey on stage one, the Subaru’s handling not to his liking, but with corrections to the diff settings, he equalled Conor on stage 2, and as his times proved later, there was more to come. However, on stage 3 in Drumkeeragh forest, his time of 4 minutes 27 seconds was a full 36 seconds slower than his rival’s…

� e Down Rally. like several of the other NI forest events. had elected to run the smaller two wheel drive cars at the front of the fi eld. It is a decision that has been welcomed by these competitors, as they receive the stages in better condition, but this procedure can have its drawbacks.

� e Dogleap was held up with blockages caused by incidents involving these cars, delays of around an hour in total, and on the Down Rally, more unfortunate twists have brought this rule once more into the spotlight.

It’s a system that has been run for many years in the English forests, with the BTRDA championship letting the smaller Silver Star competitors run before the Gold Star competitors with their four wheel drive machines. In England it seems to have worked well for many years, but maybe we just haven’t got it right yet?

It was certainly not ‘right’ for Sean Devine on

the Down , as the number one seed screeched into Drumkeeragh three minutes behind the last of the smaller cars. Near the end of the stage he found the road blocked, with a car off and spectators on the road, so he stopped the Subaru.

“� ere were spectators on the road, so I stopped,” said Devine, “and I couldn’t see any OK board either, so I felt I had made the right decision to stop. It’s always been stated in the driver’s briefi ngs to stop, and I would certainly advocate safety. In the briefi ngs you are also told that you will be looked after, if you stop, in terms of your stage time, but this certainly wasn’t the case as it panned out.”

It has to be noted that Sean had stalled the car on the start line of the stage, and this made the decision slightly more diffi cult for the Clerk of the Course Andy Gilmore.

“It was important to make a decision on the day, and let Sean know the decision so that he knew were he was in the rally,” Gilmore told Pacenotes. “I took the information from the marshals at the scene, who were judges of fact, and the marshals at the start of the stage, and made the decision. After Sean, the following fi ve or six cars also had to slow down to get past the scene of the incident as well.”

“It’s diffi cult to make these decisions for sure, and the rule book allows us to credit the time of the car in front, which probably would have been worse for Sean, as the small two wheel drives had gone in before him. I think it was unfortunate for sure, and I had to take in all the circumstances.”

Now 43 seconds down after three stages, Sean set a scorching time on stage four, taking 23 seconds back when Conor McCloskey stalled, and a further two seconds back on stage fi ve. � at reduced the gap to 16 seconds, in spite of the full 36 second time loss on stage three.

With two stages remaining, Sean lined up for stage six, the second Drumkeeragh stage, and set off into the test. “What I can’t believe,” Devine told Pacenotes, “is that the organisers were aware that there were blockages on the stage, and they didn’t clear them before we went in. We knew

entering these two stages that we needed good times on both stages to give us a chance of victory and gain maximum championship points, so every mile counted. We got into the stage and there was Honda blocking it, stuck up a hill. � ere was no point in stopping as everything was okay, and we drove around the car. But the WRC car is wider than the smaller cars, so we just got sucked into the ditch, bent the steering arm and damaged the rack.”

“Peter O’Kane, whose car was stuck,” continued Devine, “apologised to me profusely, but it wasn’t his fault at all - he was just stuck, and I really feel that the stage should have been cleared by the organisers.”

“� e following cars queued up behind us and the crews helped us haul the car out and we drove to the end of the stage. � ere was one more test to go, but the rack was leaking badly, and we didn’t want to risk the power steering fl uid catching fi re and setting the car alight, so we retired.”

Clerk of the Course Andy Gilmore realises that there may be things to be learnt from the event, as he told Pacenotes, “I’m not sure of the exact reason for Sean’s retirement. He made it out of the test and was credited a maximum time for that stage, and if he had’ve managed to get through the last stage, he would have possibly scored good points. For sure we would have also looked at that time, and almost certainly given him the notional time for that test, when the circumstances became clear of his incident.”

“As for the blockage, we had seen these cars run at the front of the fi eld on other NI forest events this year, and there weren’t the same problems, and we followed the NI Championship protocol by taking the decision to run them at the front. In hindsight, yes, maybe we could look at lengthening the gap between the last one and the number 1 seed, and we could run a recovery vehicle in between.”

� e whole saga puts many procedures under the spotlight, and reading the regulations for the

Lady Luck andThe Rule Book…Rallying can be a confusing sport at times and di� cult to explain to outsiders, as it is bound by comprehensive rules. After the Down Rally, the penultimate round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, there were few more confused people in the country than Sean Devine, as he retired his WRC Subaru from the event.

entering these two stages that we needed good times on both stages to give us a chance of victory and gain maximum championship points, so every mile counted. We got into the stage and there was Honda blocking it, stuck up a hill. � ere

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Tel: +44 (0) 1952 582825Fax: +44 (0) 1952 582821

Web: www.speedlinecorse.co.uk Email: [email protected]

Be a champion with Speedline Corse

Type 2120 8x18

Type 21187x15

Townparks Stages,

the fi nal championship

round, the SOS/OK board

procedure has been looked

at further, with the following

additions to the regs…

REG 19.30 In addition to above, the stewards may

consider the case of a competitor who

whilst carrying out their duty to react to

an SOS board being displayed, (only the

next two or three cars following whoever is involved in the incident),

may be deemed to have suff ered with the regards

to time. � e stewards may award such competitors a time, which would refl ect his/her performance on the event to that point.

REG 19.31 A competitor misusing an SOS board may be excluded. Indeed they may award a time that would refl ect their performance on the event, and that may have helped in other instances.

In the MSA Blue book section H 148 page 287 the following rules are listed...

If SOS board is shown – you MUST stop OR if no SOS board and competitors still in car – you MUST stop (immediately and without exception) all following cars must stop. 2nd car on scene must drive on and alert next radio point.

Awards/penalties: � e CoC may award a discretionary time to any competitor delayed in such circumstances. Any crew failing to comply with the rule will be reported to CoC who may impose penalties, but these penalties not specifi ed in MSA competitors book. Any crew failing to show OK board when ok may be subject to a penalty at CoC’s discretion.

� e Motorsport Ireland rulebook has a slightly diff erent take, and seems considerably more detailed in this direction…

3.5.2 Competitors who stop or are slowed as result of the displaying of an SOS board, or the non displaying of an OK board, may have the stage interruption rule applied as per Appendix 29,Article 8.13 / 8.14. COC’s are encouraged to fully investigate such incidents, and having established the facts, to act accordingly.

8.14 If the promoters became aware that

a number of competitors were delayed on a Special Stage due to a blockage and the nature of the blockage can be verifi ed, or that they had stopped to comply with Appendix 29, Article 3.5.1 (c), then, the Clerk of the Course may apply the stage interrupted rule to the competitors aff ected.

Alternatively the promoters may apply the Force Majeure rule.

3.7 As per Appendix 2, Article 29, Competitors must carry an SOS/OK board. � e SOS board to be displayed when it is necessary to summon medical help in the shortest possible time. In the event of an incident where someone requires urgent medical help, display SOS board to next 8/10 competitors – they will carry the message to the next Radio Point where the medical services can be alerted. � e OK board is to be displayed by competitors stopped on a stage for any reason (off , broken down, etc.) and is used to indicate that medical help is not needed. If no OK board is displayed, the following competitors must act as if an SOS board were being displayed. � ey must stop and establish what are the circumstances of the crew in question and act accordingly (i.e. report to the next radio point if medical assistance is required, or simply continue if not).

� ere are certainly a lot of decisions in the rulebook left to the Clerk of the Course on the day, and with the added pressure of keeping the event running, it cannot be easy to make decisions over times of individual drivers. I would like to know how they work out whether to award a discretionary time and what time to give? Do they look at similar times in the class? � e fastest, slowest, average or last competitive time?

It seems there are variables to consider. � is is MI’s take on a stage interruption, which again seems to take a lot more into account the performance merit of each individual competitor...

8.13 Interruption of a timed stage. When a Special Stage has to be stopped for any reason whatsoever before the last crew has covered it, a classifi cation for the Stage may however be established by allocating to each crew, which has been unable to complete the stage because of the interruption, the time of the last competitor to complete the stage before the interruption. � is classifi cation may be drawn up by the Clerk of the Course even if only one crew has been able to cover the stage in normal competitive conditions.

Should the Clerk of the Course consider the time set by the last competitor to complete the stage as abnormal, he/she may choose as the scratch time the one among the four previous competitors to complete the stage which

seems to be the most suitable. However, no crew which is totally or partially responsible for stopping a stage may benefi t from this measure. It will be given the time which it might have eventually set if this is greater than the scratch time awarded to the other crews.

Following consultation with the Safety Offi cer a stage may be re-started and the stage interrupted time will only be applied to those crews aff ected by the stoppage. Crews completing the stage after it has been re-started will be credited with their actual time. If 10 minutes has elapsed since the start time of the last competing car which started the stage, then it may not be restarted.

� e rules of SOS/OK procedure are also slightly diff erent between the MSA and MI, with the MSA insistent on the second car reporting it to the radio point, but MI feeling 8 to 10 competitors can go on to the next radio point. Stage blockages may also have the Force Majeure rule applied by MI, which is really tough luck, and there seems to be some room for conjecture in both sets of rules.

For Sean Devine it was a confusing day at the Down, and as I said to him, the events of it hadn’t been too widely reported.

“Maybe there would be a lot more reports on it, if I hadn’t of stopped on the stage, and had mowed the spectators down on the road,” said Devine. “I also feel that with incidents like these it’s important to keep the rally running to ensure as many people as possible who paid their money to take part get as many stages as possible. I kind of feel now though, that if I had to stop like that again, I should take my helmet off , wait for the next 5 or 6 cars to stop, and make sure the situation is sorted before I proceed.”

One can only hope that Devine’s Drumkeeragh dramas are not the cause of his fi nal championship position, in what has been a great battle between Sean and his friend and rival Conor McCloskey, who, by the way, was genuinely disappointed for Sean.

It’s not easy to make the rules, and not easy to make decisions under pressure, but maybe some further guidance from the rule book would assist these situations. For the average Irish rally crew it can be confusing competing North and South, on two diff erent sets of rules.

Maybe it’s important also for each individual event to explain the procedure they wish to apply, and the action taken as regards time adjustment at each drivers briefi ng, so that crews know what to do, and what the penalty should be. Lives could depend on it.

to time. � e stewards may award such competitors a time, which would refl ect his/her performance on the event to that point.

1 DavidCrossan................. 3:50.62 RaymondJohnson........... 3:50.93 MervynHill...................... 3:51.14 RaymondMason.............. 3:55.05 EamonMimnagh.............. 3:55.36 SeanHaveron.................. 3:55.47 TrevorMoore................... 3:55.98 MarcJohnston................. 3:57.89 GregoryShaw.................. 3:58.010 MartinCollins................... 4:00.011 JoeMcQuillan.................. 4:01.312 JamesKennedy................ 4:02.713 AidanToner...................... 4:03.814 MMassey........................ 4:06.015 IanMillar.......................... 4:06.216 EndaMcNulty................... 4:06.817 ColinMassey................... 4:07.018 JohnMurphy.................... 4:08.319 AlanCarmichael............... 4:08.720 PaulMcErlean.................. 4:09.4

Bally

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WordsJonathan

Macdonald

PICTUrEsJohn o’Neill

RESULTS

C3: Joe Agnew

C4: Ian Millar

Winner: David Crossan

It must be the season for maiden rally victories. In late September, Conor McCloskey secured his first win at the McGillin Bushwhacker Rally, and that was two weeks after Richard Cathcart secured his first victory in a World Rally Car.

One week after McCloskey’s celebrations, young Alastair Fisher took his first win at the System Signs Clubman Stages Rally. Then, seven days later, there was another new name on a victory trophy, when David Crossan won the Curran Court Hotel Ballyboley Rally Time Trial!

It has been a long time coming for Crossan. Gone are the days of his two-wheel antics in an Avenger around Bishopscourt, though. Nowadays, he has moved up a gear and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 saw him briefly lead the Group N category of the Bushwhacker Rally before retiring after stage two.

Of course, to finish first, first you have to finish, and the Comber man delivered the goods at Larne Motor Club’s event. In a dual entry with his father, David fended off a number of former Northern Ireland rally champions to claim the spoils with his quickest time, which was three-tenths faster than that of Raymond Johnston.

Johnston, a former N.I. Group N champion, was not the only championship winning driver among the field. Mervyn Hill, who

finished third overall after a long lay-off, is one of only a handful of drivers to have won the N.I. championship three years on the trot (1990-1992).

Then there was fourth placed Raymond Mason, who had many tussles with Johnston for the Group N crown, and sixth placed Sean Haveron, who piloted his white

and pink Sierra to the N.I. crown in 1997.

Indeed, the Ballyboley Rally Time Trial was graced by a lot of top local talent, but it was David Crossan who had the largest grin on his face at the event finish. His rear differential cried enough at the start of the final stage, but he still claimed the rally victory with his fastest time of the day!

“I’ve had a second overall and a third overall before,” Crossan told Pacenotes, “so it’s good to finally get first overall! We had a good, clean run. It was my first time on that particular stage and it was in excellent condition. There were a

few beers taken that night!”“It’s my second season with

a four-wheel-drive car,” David continued. “I started rallying in 2000 and then used a Ford Ka in England before having a four year break. I only started rallying again last year. I entered the event as a dual entry with my dad, and my brother Paul won his class too!”

Behind the jubilant Crossan, Raymond Johnston just pipped ‘Swervy Mervy’ to second position by two-tenths of a second, while Raymond Mason finished three seconds adrift in fourth. Eamon Mimnagh arrived home in fifth, ahead of Sean Haveron and Trevor Moore, with Marc Johnston completing the top eight overall.

Crossan Quickest Of The Quick…

2nd: Raymond Johnston 3rd: Meryvn Hill

C2: Paul Crossan

C5: Adrian Donnelly


ques

tiontim

e

1. When did you fi rst get behind a wheel?James: My fi rst experience was on my father’s farm on a tractor. � at progressed to sneaking wee drives in cars when he wasn’t about!John: I was about 13 or 14, driving my mother’s Nissan Micra!

2. Who taught you to drive?James: My father, who is also called James.John: My father.

3. Did you pass your driving test fi rst time?James: Yep.John: Yeah.

4. What was your fi rst road car?James: Ford Fiesta – I shared it with my sister, but I think she got the raw end of the deal as she didn’t get it that often!John: Vauxhall Astra 1.4 – no stories to tell as they might be a wee bit illegal!

5. What is your favourite road car?James: An M3 BMW or something like that.John: Aston Martin DB9 – I have expensive tastes!

6. Who were your motorsport heroes as a child?James: Ari Vatanen and Stig Blomqvist.John: Colin McRae, Frank Meagher and Bertie Fisher.

7. Who would you rate as the top British or Irish rally drivers today?James: Eamonn Boland, Mark Higgins and Eugene Donnelly.John: Kris Meeke, Kevin Lynch and Oran Donnelly.

8. What was your fi rst competitive event?James: I think it was in 1991 or thereabouts. � ere was a wee rally near Warrenpoint called the New Year Stages. We entered in a Sunbeam and would have fi nished third in class but time penalties dropped us down to fi fth.John: Ballypatrick Tarmac Stages in 2002 – it was my driver’s fi rst time as well. I think I did okay…although I haven’t heard from him since, so maybe that’s a bad sign!

9. What is your worst memory in rallying?James: We rolled fairly heavily in Parkmore forest during the Toshiba Rally, as it used to be called. I think Frank Kelly went off at the same place a few years before us.John: � e death of Colin McRae.

10. What drive are you most proud of to date?James: A few years ago we fi nished third overall at the Festival Stages in 1600 Mark 2 Escort. Dominic McNeill and Davy Crockett fi nished in front of us, although there was a dispute over a time – I think we should have been second, but third is what the results show!John: Winning the 2wd championship this year with James.

11. What is your most frustrating memory in rallying?James: Back when I fi rst started rallying, I bought a G3 Escort and everything was fairly frustrating about it!John: I remember leading Davagh by 45 seconds with Declan McNaughton…then our throttle cable

broke midway through the penultimate stage. We were gutted! We managed to pull the cable in through the window and work it from there but we fi nished nearly last. It was good craic all the same!

12. What are your plans for 2008/2009?James: I’m going to do the last round of the championship, then next year I’m just going to do a few selected events as the credit crunch that everyone is talking about is having an eff ect on us.John: Townparks Glens of Antrim with James, and next year I’ll just wait to see who wants me!

13. What is your favourite event?James: I’ve quite enjoyed the Circuit of Ireland for the past few years.John: Defi nitely this year’s Bushwhacker Rally – the stages were fantastic and it was just a good all round event.

14. What is your favourite rally car?James: It has to be a Mark 2.John: A 2005 Ford Focus WRC…and a Mark 2 Escort (to keep James happy!)

15. If you could change anything about current rallying rules/admin what would it be?James: To be honest, I just turn up and rally! John: At a lot of the N.I. championship events you just get a DVD beforehand, but I think having a proper recce is crucial.

withJames Kennedy & John Rowan

Driver: James KennedyHeight: 5’10” Home: AntrimBirth date: 24th FebruaryOccupation: DeveloperRoad car: BMW 535 SportRally car: Ford Escort MkIIMarital status: Married to Heather, who is a navigator come service crew – just a general all rounder! I have two children, Rebecca and David.

Hobbies: Rallying ties up the whole thing!Driver: John RowanHeight: 6’2”Home: CushendallBirth date: 22nd NovemberOccupation: Refrigeration EngineerRoad car: BMW Sport

Marital status: SingleHobbies: Rallying takes up most of my time…going to the pub is the other hobby!Anything else you want to say: Thanks to James and Heather Kennedy for a great year all round!

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RESULTS

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WordsMartin Walsh &

Jonathan Macdonald

PICTUrEsseamus Counihan

1 PatrickElliot/PaulGoodman SubaruImprezaWRC..... 1:07:302 KevinBarrett/SeanMullally SubaruImprezaWRC..... 1:08:293 SeamusLeonard/JohnMcCafferty SubaruImprezaWRC..... 1:08:364 P.JMcDermott/PaddyRobinson SubaruImprezaWRC..... 1:09:555 StuartDarcy/DermottFalvey SubaruImpreza.............. 1:10:206 GaryMcPhillips/MarkTierney FordEscort.................... 1:11:247 DannyMcBride/RoryMcBride MitsubishiEvo............... 1:11:398 CasimerMcGill/BrianBoyle FordEscort.................... 1:11:419 DamienGallagher/MacWalsh FordEscort.................... 1:11:5110 CamilusBradley/CharlieBettie FordEscort.................... 1:11:5611 AlanRing/AdrianDeasy MitsubishiEvo............... 1:12:0912 JoeMacHugh/DermottMacHugh FordEscort.................... 1:12:1113 FergalCostelo/ShaneGilhooly MitsubishiEvo............... 1:12:4314 VictorHunter/MichaelDoherty FordEscort.................... 1:12:5315 AlaisterCochrane/CrawfordHenderson FordEscort.................... 1:12:5716 PaulGallagher/KarlReid ToyotaCorolla................ 1:13:1917 JohnCairns/JamesCairns SubaruImpreza.............. 1:13:2118 JackMcGuire/PaulMcGuire MitsubishiEvo............... 1:13:3119 MartinMcGee/DamianCrawford FordEscort.................... 1:13:3820 TrevorMulligan/LisaRoe FordEscor..................... 1:13:38

In terms of the Dunlop Championship, the major focus centred on the Pattersons RallyNews Group N award that was won by Kerry’s Alan Ring (Mitsubishi) and his Cork co-driver, Adrian Deasy. They drove at a steady pace to ensure a second Group N title in three years.

At the top of the tables, Elliott and Goodman finished the nine-stage event 59 seconds ahead of Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC), who secured third overall in the Dunlop series. Seamus Leonard and John McCafferty (Subaru) finished third, seven seconds further behind.

However, at the start of the event it was all about Dungiven driver Kevin Lynch. As expected, he set a strong pace on the opening

stage, Rossbeg, and led Elliott by a margin of six seconds, with Leonard a further 12 seconds in arrears. Kevin Barrett, bidding to secure third overall in the Dunlop series, occupied fourth - eight seconds behind Leonard, who was making his first appearance in the Dunlop series for several months.

Donegal driver Manus Kelly (Escort) led the two-wheel drive category and also held sixth place. Shaun Gallagher, driving his World Championship Citroen C2, was seventh in a top ten that also featured Rodney Wilton (Escort), Group N leader Danny McBride and Alan Ring, who was intent on securing the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award.

Lynch set a superb pace through the second stage and extended his

lead to an impressive 44 seconds after just two stages. Second placed Elliott overshot a junction and ended up having to wait until after Lynch had passed to get back on stage.

Seamus Leonard was 12 seconds further behind in third, and recalled an incident where he was very fortunate that his Subaru survived unscathed. Kevin Barrett maintained fourth and the Maynooth driver was 14 seconds adrift of third spot.

Fifth placed PJ McDermott reckoned the suspension set up of his Subaru was unsuited to the Donegal roads. Manus Kelly maintained his lead of the two-wheel drive category and sixth in general classification. Shaun Gallagher was in equal seventh

Newly crowned dunlop National rally champions Patrick Elliott & Paul Goodman (subaru) won the Ardara-based Nesbitt Arms Hotel donegal Harvest rally, the final showdown of the ten round series!

Elliott Harvests Donegal Spoils…

4th: P.J McDermott & Paddy Robinson Patterson’s Rallynews GrpN Winners: Alan Ring & Adrian Deasy

Winners: Patrick Elliot & Paul Goodman


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with the Mitsubishi of Danny McBride, who remarked that the tyre pressures were all askew due to a faulty pressure gauge. Stuart Darcy (Subaru) and Frank Wray (Mitsubishi) completed the top ten.

Alan Ring was outside that select group, but that fact didn’t worry the Kerry driver, who was very much in championship mode as he kept his focus on the Pattersons RallyNews award. His only rival, Sean Flanagan, finished the second stage with three damaged rims.

It looked as though Lynch was going to walk away with the rally victory, but then the leader crashed heavily during the first stage of the second loop. His pristine Impreza WRC got out of shape before a jump, resulting in the car landing nose first into a low stone wall at the side of the road. The impact saw the car pirouette on its nose before rolling into a Donegal ditch.

Thankfully, neither crew member was injured during the incident.

With Lynch left at the sidelines, Elliott took up the number one role as he led Seamus Leonard by 12 seconds. Battle resumed on stage five, where Elliott and Barrett set identical times, but on stage six it was all about Elliott.

At the final service halt in Ardara, the newly crowned Dunlop champion held a 32 second lead over Leonard, who remarked that the only places he could match Elliott’s S12B Subaru was on the very tight and twisty parts of the stages. Leonard and third placed Kevin Barrett both had moments at the end of the sixth stage.

PJ McDermott was another driver to have an overshoot, but he was fourth overall, while fellow Donegal driver Stuart Darcy was 36

seconds behind in the race for local honours. Danny McBride, who had a major moment that damaged the right hand side of his Mitsubishi, continued to lead Group N, and was sixth overall.

Following the demise of Manus Kelly, Garry McPhillips, who broke the gear lever of his Escort on the first stage, took control of the two-wheel drive category. The top ten

also included Casimer Magill, Frank Wray and Alan Ring. Sean Flanagan lost some nine minutes when he rolled his Subaru three times on the fourth stage, but incredibly, he was still in the top five of the Group N category. Meanwhile, Shaun Gallagher slid his Citroen off the road and out of the rally during the

second loop. Elliott finished the event with

three fastest times on the final loop, even though he admitted that he slackened his pace. Leonard looked on course to finish runner-up, but the engine of his Subaru overheated on the penultimate stage. The Tyrone man entered the final stage just a second ahead of Kevin Barrett, but it wasn’t enough, and Barrett clinched second spot by a seven second margin.

McDermott did enough to fend off the challenge of fellow Donegal ace, Stuart Darcy, to ensure he finished fourth overall. McPhillips’ impressive drive resulted in a superb sixth overall and victory in the two-wheel drive category.

Meanwhile, McBride took victory in the showroom category, while the top ten was completed by a trio of modified Ford Escorts in the hands of Casimer McGill, Damien Gallagher and Camillus Bradley. Ring finished eleventh overall and second in Group N, and he duly won the Pattersons RallyNews Group N award for the second time in three years.

Another action packed year has been enjoyed by everyone involved

in the 2008 Dunlop National Rally Championship. There are fresh names on a few championship trophies, and Pacenotes will have all the championship winners highlighted in next month’s edition!

6th: Gary McPhillips & Mark Tierney 1st GrpN & 7th OA: Danny McBride & Rory McBride

class report & images

Following the demise oF manus Kelly, garry mcPhilliPs, who broKe the gear lever oF his escort on the First stage, tooK control oF the two-wheel drive category.

2nd: Kevin Barrett & Sean Mullally 3rd: Seamus Leonard & John McCafferty

5th: Stuart Darcy & Dermott Falvey

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CLASS RESULTSClass 11 Kenneth McHale/Derek McCarthy Toyota Yaris ................... 1:23:10

Class 21 Adrian Cannon/Conor Comack Honda Civic ................... 1:17:17 2 Danny Gillespie/Eamonn Gillespie Honda Civic ................... 1:19:163 Declan McShane/Patrick Elliot Honda Civic ................... 1:19:394 Ciaran Walsh/Aidan Cannon Honda Civic ................... 1:21:26

Class 31 Conor Harvey/Fabian McShane Honda Civic ................... 1:13:59 2 Paul McDermott/Hugh Kelly Honda Civic ................... 1:19:573 Keith McElhinney/Jonathan Baird Honda Civic ................... 1:21:36

Class 41 Danny McBride/Rory McBride Mitsubishi Evo ............... 1:11:39 2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy Mitsubishi Evo ............... 1:12:093 Fergal Costelo/Shane Gilhooly Mitsubishi Evo ............... 1:12:434 Jack McGuire/Paul McGuire Mitsubishi Evo ............... 1:13:31

Class 51 Tony Gallagher/Glen Coyle Rover MG ZR ................. 1:35:19

Class 61 Mark Sheahan/Johnathan McGrath Renault Clio ................... 1:15:33 2 Alaister Glenn/Martin Sharkey Peugeot 206 .................. 1:24:09

Class 71 Audre Roberts/Eamon O’Brien Vauxhall Astra ................ 1:21:03

Class 81 P.J McDermott/Paddy Robinson Subaru Impreza WRC ..... 1:09:552 Stuart Darcy/Dermott Falvey Subaru Impreza .............. 1:10:203 John Cairns/James Cairns Subaru Impreza ............. 1:13:21

Class 1Kenneth McHale and Derek McCarthy were the sole entrants in class one. Driving their Toyota Yaris, the crew kept out of trouble over the bumpy stages to finish 69th overall, claiming the class spoils in the process.

Class 2Adrian Cannon and Conor Comack claimed a start to finish victory

among the class two field. They dominated the proceedings in their Honda Civic, immediately taking a 41 second lead. Despite losing three of the opening five stages due to blockages, Cannon fired to the front, eventually winning by two minutes from Danny and Eamonn Gillespie. Declan McShane and Patrick Elliott finished third, while Ciaran Walsh and Aidan Cannon completed the class two finishers.

Class 3Conor Harvey and Fabian McShane were the only class three crews to contest stage one after all of their rivals were awarded nominal times. That left Harvey with a 59 second

lead, and he almost doubled that advantage on stage two. It was clear that nobody could come close to the Civic pilot, and he went on to win by almost six minutes from Paul McDermott and Hugh Kelly, with Keith McElhinney and Jonathan Baird third.

Class 4Danny and Rory McBride won

the Group N category from Alan Ring and Adrian Deasy, with Fergal Costello and Shane Gilhooly third. See main report for more production category details.

Class 5Three crews entered class five but just one was destined to reach the finish line. Martin Leonard and Jackie Donaldson retired during the early stages, so Eamonn McCafferty and Catherine Levis led the class after stage two from Tony Gallagher and Glen Coyle.The following two stages were cancelled for the class five

competitors, then on stage five it was McCafferty who found himself facing retirement. That left Gallagher and Coyle as the sole survivors, and they went on to claim victory in their MG ZR.

Class 6JWRC contender Shaun Gallagher took the early class six lead in his Citroen C2. With Charlie McGinty calling the notes, they held a lead of more than one minute over Mark Sheahan and Jonathan McGrath after two stages.Unfortunately for Gallagher, he later retired, allowing Sheahan into the number one slot. There he stayed until the finish, and after second placed Dermot McCafferty and Patrick McCrudden also retired, Sheahan claimed the class honours by more than eight minutes from Alistair Glenn and Martin Sharkey.

Class 7Three crews entered class seven with Rodger Kennedy and Wendy Blackledge grabbing the early lead in their Peugeot 306 from Audre Roberts and Eamon O’Brien. Then Kennedy retired, allowing Roberts into a 21 second lead, ahead of John Duffy and John Egan. They extended their advantage on stage seven, and then Duffy retired, allowing Roberts to sail home to class seven honours.

Class 8The top three overall sacrificed their

Donegal Harvest Class Battles…

CL1: Kenneth McHale & Derek McCarthy CL2: Adrian Cannon & Conor Comack

CL7: Audre Roberts & Eamon O’BrienCL6: Mark Sheahan & Johnathan McGrath

CL11: John Ward & Gary Nern CL12: Daniel Conaghan & James Gallagher


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CLASS RESULTS

Class 91 Damian O’Reilly/Mark Hamill Ford Escort .................... 1:21:23 2 Noel Lappin/Mathew McKenna Ford Escort ................... 1:22:303 Drew McMullen/James Sharkey Peugeot 206 .................. 1:25:23

Class 101 Enda McGinley/Frankie McGinley Ford Escort ................... 1:18:10 2 John Hanlon/Willie Irwin Ford Escort ................... 1:18:253 Paul Clarke/Gary Copperthwaite Ford Escort ................... 1:19:49

Class 111 John Ward/Gary Nern Toyota Corolla ............... 1:14:34 2 Kevin Gallagher/Gavin Gallagher Vauxhall Nova ............... 1:15:053 Columba Heena/Ryan Moore Toyota Corolla ............... 1:15:12

Class 121 Daniel Conaghan/James Gallagher Ford Escort ................... 1:14:43 2 Donal Connelly/Danny McLaughlin Ford Escort ................... 1:17:333 Michael Peoples/Hugh Curran Ford Escort ................... 1:20:18

Class 131 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh Ford Escort ................... 1:11:51 2 Camilus Bradley/Charlie Bettie Ford Escort ................... 1:11:563 Victor Hunter/Michael Doherty Ford Escort ................... 1:12:53

Class 141 Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney Ford Escort ................... 1:11:24 2 Casimer McGill/Brian Boyle Ford Escort ................... 1:11:413 Martin McGee/Damian Crawford Ford Escort ................... 1:13:38

Class 151 Joe MacHugh/Dermott MacHugh Ford Escort .................... 1:12:11 2 Andrew Mackarel/Richard Cassidy Mitsubishi Evo 4 ............ 1:21:11

class positions, so PJ McDermott and Paddy Robinson took the spoils from Stuart Darcy and Dermott Dalvey, with John and James Cairns third.

Class 9Damien O’Reilly and Mark Hamill claimed a start to finish victory in class nine. They were the best of the bunch in their Escort, winning the category by more than one minute from Noel Lappin and Matthew McKenna, with Drew McMullen and James Sharkey third.

Class 10Despite plenty of competition in class 10, Enda and Frankie McGinley were another crew to claim a start to finish win. They immediately set the pace ahead of their rivals, and despite a late charge from John Hanlon and Willie Irwin, the McGinleys claimed victory by 15 seconds. Hanlon arrived home in second position while Paul Clarke and Gary Copperthwaite completed the top three.

Class 11John Ward and Gary Nern were yet another crew that claimed a start to finish win. Driving their Toyota Corolla, they claimed victory by

31 seconds over Kevin and Gavin Gallagher, with Columba Heena and Ryan Moore third. Mark Robinson and Johnathan Jordan were in an early second position, but retired after stage three, as did Declan and Eoin Gallagher.

Class 12Daniel Conaghan and James Gallagher made it look easy in class 12 as they also led from start to finish. Donal Connelly and Danny McLaughlin were the best of the rest in their Escort, finishing almost three minutes adrift, while Michael

Peoples and Hugh Curran finished third.

Class 13Damien Gallagher and Mac Walsh had plenty of competition among the class 13 runners, but they took the spoils by a slender five seconds at the finish line. Camillus Bradley and Charlie Beattie hounded them all the way to the finish line, and in fact the two crews were joint first going into the final stage. Gallagher pulled out all the stops to claim the win from Bradley, with Victor Hunter and Michael Doherty third.

Class 14Gary McPhillips and Mark Tierney

added more trophies to their cabinet with victory in class 14, but it wasn’t an easy ride for the crew. Manus Kelly and Donal Barrett were the early leaders from Rodney Wilton and Conor Mahon, then Wilton retired after stage two. That allowed Casimer McGill into second position with McPhillips holding third.Manus Kelly was the man on a mission as he held sixth overall and led the category by 21 seconds. Sadly he later retired, allowing McGill into the lead by eight seconds from McPhillips. The chasing McPhillips upped his pace to reel in his rival, and fastest class times over the final two stages saw him claim victory by 17 seconds from McGill, with Martin McGee and Damian Crawford third.

Class 15Joe and Dermott MacHugh took a start to finish win in class 15. Driving their Escort, they claimed victory by nine minutes from Andrew Mackeral and Richard Cassidy, while James and Paul McDermott retired.

Class 16The Junior category saw Damien Breslin and Patrick Boyle claim the spoils by five seconds from early leaders Mark Wedlock and Adam Kinkade. It was Wedlock who led from the start, but Breslin overhauled the Escort pilot after the fourth test. Wedlock had to settle for second on this occasion, while Glen Alcorn and Johnathan Shovlin finished third.

CL3: Conor Harvey & Fabian McShane CL5: Tony Gallagher & Glen Coyle

CL15: Joe MacHugh & Dermott MacHugh Juniors: Damien Breslin & Patrick Boyle

CL10: Enda McGinley & Frankie McGinleyCL9: Damian O’Reilly & Mark Hamill


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Professional On-board camera systems now available from£650 plus VAT. As used by Phil Collins in his escort with TV broadcast quality pictures. Ring for details.

Every year I keep hoping for a hefty cold snap to hit. Can you imagine the spectacle of the WRC teams battling blizzard conditions through the tricky Welsh forests?

And speaking of tricky Welsh forests, I’m having to do a refresher course on map reading at the moment, as I’ll be tackling the three day Roger Albert Clark rally in an Ascona 400 (pictured above) piloted by none other than modifi ed Mk2 maestro Phil Collins!

� e Roger Albert Clark is a trip back through time to the glory days of the Lombard RAC, when men were men, and sheep were scared by the banshee wail of BDA Escorts coming out of the darkness at full chat!

We’ll be up against classic 911s, Escorts and the like, and the Ascona

should be competitive, with it’s torquey 2.4 litre Cosworth engine developing around 240 bhp.

Phil’s Ascona blew its head gasket on its last outing, so hopefully an engine rebuild in the interim will give us the reliability we’ll need. � e ‘RAC’ is long and it’s hard on both cars and crews - taking us back to the days when rallying was as much about the endurance of men and machine, as the speed of the package.

I’m actually physically excited at the prospect of taking part in this marathon and as I mentioned earlier, my rusty map reading skills need honed. It must be all of twenty years since I read a map competitively, and it will require a lot of concentration amidst the bangs and rattles of a ‘400’ fully lit in the forest!

I did occur to me however, that one has to be ‘of a certain age’ to be asked to take part in this type of event. Whilst retro and historic rallying is the biggest growth area in the sport today, it is largely populated by many individuals who were there the fi rst time around…

I guess the best way to look at it is that rally crews are like fi ne wine: we all improve with age!

� ere’ll be news of our adventure in the next issue of Pacenotes.

In next month’s column we’ll be getting totally “HANS on” as I clarify and advise on the well proven crew safety system that will be mandatory in all ROI rallies from January 1st, 2009

Like Fine Wine...There’s a real nip in the air that tells us all that winter is on the way, but it’s not all bad news…because that means it’s nearly time for the world to come to us for Wales Rally GB!

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WINNERS

Adrian Mulcahy & Des FlynnWinners Class 9 SI Forestry Championship

Declan Cuddy & Nigel MoodyWinners Class 6 SI Forestry Championship

Colin Britan & Arthur KieransWinners Class 8 SI Forestry Championship and GpN Champions

Vincent McAree & JP McAree Joint 2nd o/a National Junior Championship and Winner Class D

Adrian Levis & Eric DeaneWinner Class F National Junior Championship

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1 MarcusDodd/AndrewBargery HyundaiAccentWRC.. 0:59:44.52 StevePerez/PaulSpooner FordFocus.................. 1:00:16.73 JulianReynolds/PatrickWalsh SubaruImprezaWRC.. 1:01:47.74 NikElsmore/CraigDrew MitsubishiEvo9......... 1:02:19.35 DanielBarry/MartinBrady MitsubishiEvo9......... 1:02:26.96 NeilMcCance/GrahamHopewell MitsubishiEvo9........... :02:29.67 StephenPetch/MichaelWilkinson HyundaiAccentWRC.. 1:02:32.18 CharliePayne/JamieEdwards MitsubishiLancer........ 1:02:43.99 JonathanGreer/DaiRoberts MitsubishiEvo9......... 1:03:22.710 DavidBogie/KevinRae MitsubishiEvo9......... 1:04:11.211 RogerDuckworth/MarkBroomfield SubaruImprezaWRC.. 1:04:11.612 AlanCookson/JulianWilkinson SubaruImprezaWRC.. 1:05:29.213 DavidHowells/AndyMorgan SubaruImpreza........... 1:05:56.514 WugUtting/DerekDavies SubaruImprezaN12B. 1:06:55.115 ErrolClarke/NeilShanks SubaruImprezaN12... 1:07:15.7

RESULTS

With series leader Jon Ingram absent as he cared for his wife following a recent horse riding accident, nothing less than a victory would suffice for Dodd and co-driver Andrew Bargery, as the title went right down to the wire.

Needing maximum points in their Hyundai Accent WRC, Dodd and Bargery set the pace from the outset and never looked back, posting fastest times over three of

the six stages to win the 65 stage mile event outright. Dodd already had a hat trick of ANCRO titles to his name, having won in 2000, 2001, and 2007.

Winning the 2008 championship by the slenderest of margins - just one point - the pair beat the Ford Focus WRC of former champion Steve Perez and co-driver Paul Spooner by 32.2 seconds on the

Oswestry-based event, with the Subaru Impreza WRC of Julian Reynolds and Patrick Walsh in third.

“I was beginning to think luck was against me this year,” Dodd said afterwards. “We had a huge lead on the penultimate round in Yorkshire, only for the engine to fail in the last stage. To then have another engine problem in testing, prior to the Bulldog Rally, really did suggest that this wouldn’t be our year.”

“I can’t begin to thank Peter Egerton enough for loaning me his car at the last minute,” Dodd continued. “It was a very generous gesture and I’m pleased we were able to bring the car home in one piece for Peter. We really owe him one!”

Dodd did have a concerning moment when the right front hub collapsed on the final stage, but he

made it round to claim his third Bulldog Rally win!

Meanwhile, second placed Perez had dropped time on the opening stage in Dyfnant due to an incorrect tyre choice in the muddy conditions, and also had an overshoot. But by stage three, he was back up to second position. He stayed there until the finish, setting a couple of fastest times on the way.

“We were on the wrong tyres in the morning,” Perez admitted. “We should have started on mud tyres, but things went much better on the final three stages. I’m happy with the result. I would have liked to have pushed Marcus more, but well done to him - he’s a worthy champion!”

Third placed Reynolds and Walsh had a heart-stopping moment when their Impreza suffered an engine management problem on leaving the second service, but managed to make the finish on the final step of the podium.

Nik Elsmore and Craig Drew were fourth in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 after earlier taking a wrong slot on stage one, and took the Group N victory in the process.

Irish duo Daniel Barry and Martin Brady claimed fifth in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 after a problem-free run. They had hired Richard

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Marcus dodd took a record-breaking fourth ANCro title as he sealed the 2008 Pirelli MsA Gravel rally Championship crown after winning the final round of the series, the Bulldog rally!

Dodd Grit NetsGravel Crown…

Winners: Marcus Dodd & Andrew Bargery

We had a huge lead on the penultimate round in Yorkshire, onlY for the engine to fail in the last stage. to then have another engine problem in testing, prior to the bulldog rallY, reallY did suggest that this Wouldn’t be our Year - marCus dodd

Bulldog Rally

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2nd: Steve Perez & Paul Spooner

Cathcart’s old car after their own Evo wasn’t ready, following an accident at the Trackrod Rally. They finished ahead of fellow Irishman Neil McCance, with co-driver Graham Hopewell.

Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson were seventh in their Hyundai Accent WRC after a difficult day. They lost their brakes towards the end of stage three, before the hydraulics failed, seeing them drop down the order from sixth. Charlie Payne and Jamie Edwards were eighth in their Evo 9, after struggling through the first two stages with a loose wheel bearing. Jonny Greer and Dai Roberts followed them home in

another Evo 9.Scottish crew David Bogie and

Kevin Rae wrapped up the honours in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge and the Production Cup when they finished 10th overall, despite having a problem with the brakes early on.

Roger Duckworth and Mark Broomfield had to settle for 11th, despite setting the pace on stage two in their Impreza WRC. They also took a wrong turn on stage one, but a puncture on stage three put paid to them making up any lost time, as they had to stop five miles into the fifteen-mile test to change the tyre, losing around three minutes.

In the class battles, Tony Jardine

and David Smith won class N3 from Kit and Tim Leigh. Andrew Hockridge and Rich Mills won class A6 from Andrew Coley and Tim Pearce, who sealed the class championship spoils in the process.

Finally, Connor Corkhill and Howard Allison won class H3, while Andrew Siddall and Colin Thompson took victory in class H2.

In the ANCRO Rally Challenge Dave and Bryan Hull took the honours in their Proton Satria as they finished 41st overall.

The ANCRO Championship will return next year, whilst the ANCRO Rally Challenge’s final round takes place at the Malton Forest Rally on Sunday 2nd November.

3rd: Julian Reynolds & Patrick Walsh

H3: Connor Corkhill & Howard Allison

A6: Andrew Hockridge & Rich Mills

N3 (2WD): Tony Jardine & David Smith

H2: Andrew Siddall & Colin Thompson

N4: Nik Elsmore & Craig Drew

CommitmentCommitmentCommitmentCommitmentCommitmentCommitment

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Pacenotes 0710#1.indd 1 07/10/2008 15:06:27

MORE CLUBMEN NEXT MONTH!!

Connie Smith & Breen McNamee

clubmen caught on camera clubmen caught

Alan & Stephen Davies

Alistair & David Oram

Mervyn (Swervy Mervy) Hill

Camillus Bradley & Charlie Bettie

Jon Madoc-Jones & Llion Owen

Martin Roberts & Jane Nicol

Martin Cairns & Andrew Purcell

Moss Fitzgerald & Alistair Wyllie

Quentin James & Steve Landen

Mike Armer & Paul Rhodes

Jim Mc Kenna & � omas Treanor


1 KevinKelleher MartinBrady................ 00:41:092 TerenceO’Shaughnessy EugeneMcGrath.......... 00:41:243 TrevorMulligan LisaRoe...................... 00:41:424 PaulMcEnroe SorchaKelly................. 00:41:505 DesMoore ArthurKearns.............. 00:42:016 AdrianQuinn AlanMoran.................. 00:42:037 ThomasFitzmaurice FionnFoley.................. 00:42:098 SimonKeogh EndaKennedy.............. 00:42:169 TrevorLancashire DomhnallLennon......... 00:42:3910 SamSmyth AlanSmyth.................. 00:42:43

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PICTUrEsJoe Lane

RESULTS

CL3: John Masterson & Gerry Conlon

CL12: Leo Doyle & Alister Chambers

Winner: Kevin Kelleher & Martin Brady

Kevin Kelleher and Martin Brady have claimed victory at the Germaine’s of Baltinglass Mini Stages Rally, organised by the Garda Síochána Motor Club!

The Evo 9 crew’s path to victory was eased slightly when their main rivals, Paul Kiely and Pat McSharry, also piloting an Evo 9 Lancer, encountered mechanical trouble prior to the third of the event’s four stages. Kiely and McSharry led the rally by just one second at the half-way point, but then broke a transfer shaft while warming their tyres.

The event consisted of two runs over the Kilranelagh and Slievereagh stages, east of Baltinglass. While the first loop was held in dry but windy conditions, heavy rain arrived in the afternoon to make the conditions for the crews all the more challenging over the second loop.

Mark Courtney had taken a commanding lead on the first stage of the rally in his Celica, with Kelleher second fastest on the stage, followed by Kiely. Stage two saw Courtney crash out, while Kelleher also inflicted damage to his Mitsubishi Lancer. Kiely took fastest time to move into his short-lived lead.

Kelleher was fastest on the two remaining stages, but had to tread carefully, as O’Shaughnessy was never too far away. The success marks Kelleher’s second win in a row on the event.

“It was a bit daunting this

morning,” Kelleher said afterwards. “It was my first time running first on the road, and it was my first time in this car - I only saw it for the first time this morning! Martin Brady was just back from England as he was competing in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge in Shropshire yesterday, so there were a lot of ‘unusual’ things about today!”

“The first stage went well for us,” Kelleher continued, “but then we were lucky to get away with an ‘off ’

on stage two. We broke a wheel and a wishbone, but we were able to limp into service on three wheels. The James Foley Rallysport lads did a great job to turn us around - there was a lot of patching up to be done!”

The event was also the final round of the Motorsport Ireland National Junior Rally Championship and Bandon’s Damien McCarthy (Honda Civic) was the highest placed NJRC finisher, finishing in eleventh place overall. Patrick Cunningham, Jason Ryan and Peter Wilson were the next NJRC runners, in 13th to 15th places in the overall results, with Wilson

claiming the Junior title. In the class battles, David and

Robert Woodcock claimed class one honours, while Paul Curley and Des Daniels won class two. John Masterson and Gerry Conlon were the sole class three finishers, while Paul McEnroe and Sorcha Kelly netted the class four spoils.

In class six, Vincent and JP McAree claimed the trophy with Thomas Fitzmaurice and Fionn Foley taking class eight spoils.

Martin Lordan and Rory Hennessy won class nine, while Larry and Lee Murphy took the class 10 honours home. Damien McCarthy and Eamon Hayes topped the ultra competitive class 11, with Leo Doyle and Alister Chambers winning class 12.

Simon Keogh and Enda Kennedy won class 13, and in class 14, Des Moore and Arthur Kearns topped the standings. Tony Ferris and Des Moran won class 15, and finally, Leslie Branagan and Graham Randall won class 16.

Kelleher ‘Gards’ Mini Stages Trophy…

2nd: Terence O’Shaughnessy & Eugene McGrath 3rd: Trevor Mulligan & Lisa Roe


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STOCKISTS OFNOW QUOTING FOR 2009

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Drivers have always had a love aff air with cars that possess a genuine sporting pedigree, so Fiat is hopeful that the re-launch of the Abarth brand can lure buyers onto its forecourts.

� e Turin based company wants to muscle in on a market worth millions, so it has looked to increase driver awareness of the red and yellow Scorpion badge.

Abarth was founded back in 1949 by Austrian Karl Abarth, who decided to use the Scorpion as his company logo because it was his birth sign.

� roughout the ‘50s and ‘60s the fi rm gained a winning reputation in motorsport and from that diversifi cation into road-car tuning came about. Realising the commercial potential, Fiat bought Abarth in 1971 and immediately made it the company’s racing section.

Competitive rally success followed and cars like the Ritmo Abarth and the Fiat 131 Abarth won the World Rally Championship no fewer than three times: in 1977 and 1978 with Markku Alen and in 1980 with Walter Röhrl.

� ereafter, major success eluded them, and so too did the ability to produce a sports car to whet the appetite. � e Stilo Abarth didn’t exactly send Fiat’s 160-dealer network into a frenzy of activity…

Fiat wants us to take it seriously however, because an exclusive Abarth area within dealerships is being developed, alongside specialist sales and servicing centres.

With the Abarth relaunch comes the opportunity to start afresh, and one of the fi rst cars to be given the sporting makeover is the Grande Punto. By all accounts, it isn’t exactly a bad looking super mini in ‘standard’ guise, so the add-ons have done little to detract from its chic city styling.

You won’t see a single Fiat emblem on the Abarth

Grand Punto, and that’s not by

chance,

because they have all been replaced with Scorpion badges. � e car is literally crawling with the things, but at least you know you aren’t simply driving a lukewarm Fiat.

Compared with the standard Grande Punto, the Abarth’s track has been widened by 6mm and lowered by 10mm on springs that are 20 per cent stiff er. All-new 17-inch alloy wheels feature, along with a new exhaust. Red mirror pods and go faster stripes bearing the Abarth name are optional.

� e front is visually more aggressive,

thanks to the headlights set in black surrounds and larger air intakes, which allow more oxygen to reach the turbocharged 1.4 litre engine. Push the ‘Sport Boost’ button located in the centre console of the Abarth Grande Punto, and it will produce a maximum of 153bhp at 5,500rpm. With a six-speed manual gearbox, it will blast from 0-62 in 8.2 seconds and achieve a top speed of 129 mph.

Power is deployed through the front wheels and kept in check with ESP and all-round disc brakes, the front employing ventilated discs mated to Brembo fi xed four-piston calipers.

Fiat claims that the turbocharged 1.4 litre unit delivers performance equal to or better than a conventionally aspirated 2.0 litre engine, with a reduction of between 10% and 20% in fuel consumption and emissions. What we have then is a responsive power plant that returns over 40 mpg in the combined cycle with CO2 emissions of approximately 62 g/km.

Inside, little changes feature because much of the Fiat Punto remains, and that is a bit of a shame. Some neat design touches adorn, but you can’t escape the plastics on the main fascia and upper areas of the dash.

Bucket seats are the most notable diff erence, as is the leather-bound gear lever

and the alloy pedals. � e electronic display doubles up as both a trip computer and turbo boost gauge. Standard equipment is, as you would expect, extremely generous, and includes an MP3 player-compatible radio, remote central locking, air conditioning, cruise control, and side and curtain airbags.

Optional extras include climate control (£250), metallic paint (£375), CD autochanger (£100) and electric sunroof (£550). In case you were wondering, the red stripes and mirrors are only available on white cars and cost £100.

� e on the road price for the Abarth

Punto is £13,500, but if you have some spare change and fancy splashing out on even more performance, then consider the after-sales performance packs on off er.

� e Essesse (Super Sport) conversion is the one you want - sold and installed by the offi cial network of Abarth Assetto Corse tuners at a cost of £4,000. � e conversion means a 28bhp increase - to 180bhp at 5750rpm, with 200lb ft of torque at 3000 rpm. With this extra oomph under the bonnet, the AGP rockets to 135mph, and will sprint from 0-60mph in 7.5 seconds.

� e fi nishing touches to the kit include 18-inch alloy wheels and various mechanical modifi cations to alter the car’s dynamics. Both the front and rear suspension are lowered by a further 20 mm, compared with the standard Abarth Grande Punto. � e braking system is also beefed up, with the fronts being cross-drilled discs allied to softer, high-performance pads.

So, thanks to the Scorpion treatment, Fiat now has a hot hatch with quite a sting. � e price is right, but it will need to be to lure away buyers from its main rivals, Ford and Renault, both of whom have strong, current motorsport pedigrees in their favour.

For the driver who likes performance with extra individuality, however, the Abarth Grand Punto ticks all the boxes.

A Punto With Venom…Fiat is a company on the up. It wasn’t that long ago - the turn of the new millennium, in fact - that the Italian company was reeling in debt to the tune of $6billion. Since then, it has managed to turn around its misfortunes.

the new millennium, in fact - that

There are two kinds of people in life. Those who make the most of their free time, and those who don,

,t. For the f irst group, there,s

the V70. A car designed for the most active of social lives. And for the second group?Sorry, I ,

m afraid we don,,t make sofas.

200536_VOLVO_MY09_V70 S_P-pacenotes_v3.indd 1 30/9/08 14:46:46

WORDSJonathan MacDonald

PICTURESneillpics.co.uk

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1 Conor McCLOSKEY/Francis REGAN Ford Focus WRC ............... 43:152 Cathal ROGERS/Eoighan ROGERS Mitsubishi EVO .................. 44:503 John WALKER/Dessie WILSON Mitsubishi EVO .................. 45:204 PJ GILLESPIE/Mary O’KANE Mitsubishi EVO .................. 45:385 Alan CARMICHAEL/Ivor LAMONT Mitsubishi Evo .................. 45:526 Cyril DOHERTY/Graham HENDERSON Subaru Impreza ................. 46:257 James KENNEDY/John ROWAN Ford Escort MkII ................ 46:508 Damien HYNDS/John MAGILTON Mitsubishi EVO .................. 47:089 Shane McGIRR/Neil CONNOLLY Toyota Starlet .................... 47:1910 Glenn WILLIAMSON/Keith McEVOY Ford Escort MkII ................ 47:5711 Dermot O’HAGAN/Pierse DOHENY Vauxhall Corsa .................. 48:3012 Adrian DONNELLY/Niall BURNS Ford Escort G3 .................. 48:3113 Emma McKINSTRY/Kenny HULL Subaru Impreza WRC ........ 48:3914 Trevor FERGUSON/Patrick GALLAGER Subaru Impreza ................. 48:4215 Michael FALOON/David McKONE Ford Escort MkII ................ 48:4916 Alasdair GRAHAM/Kier BEATON Ford Escort MkII ................ 48:5417 Derek CROSSEN/Jim MCSHERRY Mitsubishi EVO .................. 48:5918 Gerard FARMER/Danny MALANAPHY Mitsubishi EVO .................. 49:0419 Christian COCHRANE/Conar LAVERY Ford Escort MkII ................ 49:1220 Enda McNULTY/Declan CAMPBELL Mitsubishi EVO .................. 49:35

RESULTS

Devine, who could have sealed the 2008 championship title had he claimed victory, trailed Conor McCloskey from the start of the Rathfriland Motor Club event, and it seems that the decision to run a number of the two-wheel-drive classes at the head of the fi eld was pivotal in determining the outcome of the rally. (See page 12 for more details)

After leaving the Castlewellan start ramp, 22-year-old McCloskey was quickest out of the blocks in his hired Ford Focus WRC. Devine was fi ve seconds slower over the opening seven miles of Tollymore, leaving him with an uphill struggle

from the start.He upped his pace through

stage two and matched the rally leader, but disaster was around the corner. During the fi rst run

through Drumkeeragh, one of the two-wheel-drive crews lost a wheel midway through the test. Marshals struggled to move the stricken car before Devine arrived on the scene, and the clock was ticking as he waited for a passable gap to be created.

In the end, the timecards recorded a 36 second loss to

McCloskey at the stage fi nish, leaving the Strabane pilot trailing his rival by 41 seconds. It was a huge margin to try to overcome, but the championship leader was

thrown a lifeline when McCloskey stalled his Focus WRC. � is time it was McCloskey who could see the time ticking away, as he dropped 23 seconds to his rival.

� at gave Devine a glimmer of hope and another fastest time through stage fi ve saw him reduce the gap to the leader by a further two seconds. � at left 16 seconds between the two rivals, with two stages remaining. It was still a tall order for Devine to claim victory, but even second overall would have put that extra bit of pressure on McCloskey to win the fi nal round.

Unfortunately for the Strabane pilot, it wasn’t going to be his day, as he was once again hindered during the second run through Drumkeeragh. Peter O’Kane and Mark O’Connor, who were running among the two-wheel-drive crews at the head of the fi eld, became

McCloskey Forces Face O� Finale…This year’s Pacenotes MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship is set to go down to a thrilling November fi nale after Conor McCloskey and Francis Regan claimed their second victory on the trot at the FM Contracts Down Rally, an event which saw hot title contenders Sean Devine and Damien Du� n retire!

Winners: Conor McCloskey & Francis Regan

ON ONE STAGE, SEAN WAS STOPPED BEHIND ANOTHER CAR, BUT WE MANAGED TO GET THROUGH OKAY, SO I’M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED THERE - CONOR MCCLOSKEY

4th: PJ Gillespie & Mary O’Kane

5th: Alan Carmichael & Ivor Lamont

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beached in the middle of the stage. Freshly laid gravel saw their Type R Honda Civic stranded in the middle of the road, creating an immovable chicane for the following crews.

“We were going up a hill, but the car just got stuck on the road half way up,” an exasperated O’Kane told Pacenotes. “My Honda Civic sits that little bit lower - there’s nothing I can do about it. � ere was new gravel on the road and she was just beached.”

“� ere were eight people pushing

the car at one point to try and move it,” O’Kane continued. “Even the Landrover Discovery which pulled us out had trouble. I could have won the class one title here, but now I have to make sure I get a

good result at the fi nal round.”O’Kane’s class title hopes were

dealt a blow, and Sean Devine’s aspirations to seal another top position were also dealt a knock-out punch. He tried to drive around the stricken car but spun and damaged his Impreza’s steering. � e stage was later cancelled and although Devine was able to make the fi nish, he was unable to complete the fi nal test.

Devine’s retirement allowed Conor McCloskey and Francis

Regan to coast through the fi nal Tollymore stage, claiming victory by more than one minute. � e result sees McCloskey move to the head of the championship standings with one round remaining, but when

‘dropped’ scores are taken into account, McCloskey and Devine are on even terms.

“It was a long day!” McCloskey said at the fi nish. “On one stage, Sean was stopped behind another car, but we managed to get through okay, so I’m not sure what happened there. � en we stalled and lost more than 20 seconds, so that put the pressure on again. � en Sean was down in a ditch after trying to get around another car!”

Outside the tussle for the top spot, with Devine out of the event and Glenn Allen deciding not to start, the remainder of the top six was occupied by the Sunoco Fuels Group N crews. Championship leader Neil McCance was unable to make the start as the event clashed with a round of the Evo Challenge, so that gave his rivals an opportunity to capitalise.

� at’s exactly what Cathal and Eoighan Rogers did! Bringing their Mitsubishi Lancer home in second overall, they sealed maximum Group N points, propelling them to the top of the standings.

It was Brian McFall and Ronnie Craig who led after the opening

2nd: Cathal Rogers & Eoighan Rogers 3rd: John Walker/Dessie Wilson

6th: Cyril Doherty & Graham Henderson 7th: James Kennedy & John Rowan

8th: Damien Hynds & John Magilton


THERE WERE EIGHT PEOPLE PUSHING THE CAR AT ONE POINT TO TRY AND MOVE IT, EVEN THE LAN-DROVER DISCOVERY WHICH PULLED US OUT HAD TROUBLE. I COULD HAVE WON THE CLASS ONE TITLE HERE, BUT NOW I HAVE TO MAKE SURE I GET A GOOD RESULT AT THE FINAL ROUND - PETER O’KANE

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CLASS 11 Micheal McMULLAN/Barry SAVAGE Vauxhall Astra Gsi ............ 52:25

CLASS 21 Cathal ROGERS/Eoighan ROGERS Mitsubishi EVO .................. 44:502 John WALKER/Dessie WILSON Mitsubishi EVO .................. 45:203 PJ GILLESPIE/Mary O’KANE Mitsubishi EVO .................. 45:384 Alan CARMICHAEL/Ivor LAMONT Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ....... 45:525 Cyril DOHERTY/Graham HENDERSON Subaru Impreza ................. 46:256 Damien HYNDS/John MAGILTON Mitsubishi EVO .................. 47:087 Trevor FERGUSON/Patrick GALLAGHER Subaru Impreza N12 ......... 48:428 Derek CROSSEN/Jim MCSHERRY Mitsubishi EVO .................. 48:599 Gerard FARMER/Danny MALANAPHY Mitsubishi EVO .................. 49:0410 Enda McNULTY/Declan CAMPBELL Mitsubishi EVO .................. 49:3511 Brian McFALL/Ronnie CRAIG Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ....... 50:08

CLASS 31 Shane McGIRR/Neil CONNOLLY Toyota Starlet .................... 47:192 Dermot O’HAGAN/Pierse DOHENY Vauxhall Corsa .................. 48:303 Jonny LEONARD/Jackie DONALDSON Nissan Micra ..................... 49:584 Glen IRWIN/Derek TORRENS Vauxhall Nova ................... 55:48

CLASS RESULTS Class 1Michael McMullan and Barry Savage claimed victory in class one with their Vauxhall Astra. � ey briefl y lost their advantage to Peter O’Kane and Mark O’Connor on stage three, but bounced back to move ahead on the following test. O’Kane later became beached on the road, resulting in his retirement and ensuring McMullan had an unassailable run to the fi nish line.

Class 2Cathal and Eoighan Rogers claimed class two honours from John

Walker and Dessie Wilson, with P.J. Gillespie and Mary O’Kane third. See main report for more details.

Class 3Shane McGirr and Neil Connolly led class three from the start in their Toyota Starlet, closely followed by Oran Donnelly and Paul Hughes. Donnelly was one second in arrears going into the fourth stage, when engine problems brought a premature end to his rally, allowing McGirr to relax at the head of the standings.

McGirr continued to set the pace and went on to claim victory

as well as an excellent ninth overall. Dermot O’Hagan and Pierce Doheny fi nished second in their Corsa, with Jonny Leonard and Jackie Donaldson third, ahead of Glen Irwin and Derek Torrens.

Class 4Mervyn Wilson and Richard Gamble took the early lead in class four from John and Gavin Devlin, but the leaders were forced to retire after the third test. With no other rivals to contend with, the Devlins had a solid drive to the fi nish line, claiming the class honours as well as 21st overall.

Class 5Conor Kelly and David Vance grabbed the early class fi ve

Class Battles…

stage though, but a maximum time on stage two put them out of the running. � at second test also saw the demise of Raymond Mason and Peter Martin, as they ended their rally in a ditch after getting out of sync over a series of bumps at the start of the test.

� e Rogers Fencing crew had no such troubles as they exercised their authority on the pack. In the end, they claimed the Group N win and second overall by 30 seconds from John Walker and Dessie Wilson, with P.J. Gillespie

and Mary O’Kane fourth in their Lancer. Alan Carmichael and Ivor Lamont fi nished fi fth, boosting them into second position in Group N championship terms, while Cyril Doherty and Graham Henderson completed the top six.

� e fi nal round of this year’s Pacenotes MSA N.I. Rally Championship takes place on Saturday 1st November with the Ballymena-based Townparks Glens of Antrim Rally. � e event sees a return to closed road stages in the County Antrim area, and provides a

perfect location for the title shoot-out between 22-year-old Conor McCloskey and Sean Devine.

Championship regulations state that competitors may discount their three lowest scores from their championship tally at the end of the year. Devine has three no-scores, while McCloskey has two. Taking McCloskey’s lowest score of eight points into account, both men enter the fi nal round on a total of 84 championship points. Who will win? Find out in next month’s Pacenotes!

Brian McFall & Ronnie Craig DNF: Sean Devine & Damien Duffi n Trevor Ferguson & Patrick Gallagher

CL1: Michael McMullan & Barry Savage

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CLASS 41 John DEVLIN/Gavin DEVLIN Chrysler Sunbeam............. 49:43

CLASS 51 Michael FALOON/David McKONE Ford Escort MkII ................ 48:492 Ian DUFF/Ian HULL Proton Compact ............... 51:183 Nigel SIMPSON/Kevin LYNAM Peugeot 206 ..................... 54:52

CLASS 6 1 Glenn WILLIAMSON Keith McEVOY Ford Escort MkII ................ 47:572 Adrian DONNELLY Niall BURNS Ford Escort G3 .................. 48:313 Christian COCHRANE Conar LAVERY Ford Escort MkII ................ 49:124 Paul MOGEY Jonathan CHARLESSON Ford Escort MkII ................ 50:005 Marcel HEANEY Mark DOMICAN Ford Escort MkI ................ 56:35

CLASS 7 1 James KENNEDY/John ROWAN Ford Escort MkII ................ 46:502 Alasdair GRAHAM/Kier BEATON Ford Escort MkII ............... 48:54

CLASS 91 Conor McCLOSKEY/Francis REGAN Ford Focus WRC ............... 43:152 Emma McKINSTRY/Kenny HULL Subaru Impreza WRC ........ 48:39

CLASS RESULTS

advantage but spectacularly crashed out of the event at the start of stage two. In the same place that Raymond Mason went off the road, their Escort got out of sync over a few bumps and rolled into retirement.

� eir exit saw Michael Faloon and David McKone move into the category lead and they were never challenged by their remaining class rivals. In the end, they claimed the category victory by more than one minute and fi nished 15th overall in the process. Ian Duff and Ian Hull took second in class, with Nigel Simpson and Kevin Lynam third.

Class 6� e tussle between the class six crews saw Paul Mogey and Jonathan Charlesson take an early lead in their Escort. � ey probably would have won the event on the stage times, but a two minute penalty dropped them out of contention. Instead, it was Glenn Williamson and Keith McEvoy who claimed the spoils after staying out of trouble in their Escort.

Adrian Donnelly and Niall Burns fi nished second in class ahead of Christian Cochrane and Conor Lavery, with Mogey grabbing fourth. Marcel Heaney and Mark Domican fi nished the fi nal stage in

fi fth after losing two minutes with a puncture. “My nicely polished RS alloy wheel is now square,” Heaney commented!

Class 7Four crews entered the event in class seven, with just two reaching the fi nish. Aidan Caldwell and Paul

Vaughan were fi rst to fall foul of the stages, as they also succumbed to that notoriously bumpy section at the start of Rostrevor. � ey rolled out of the event, causing some severe damage to their Escort.

Viv and Paul Hamill retired after the third test, leaving James Kennedy and John Rowan at the top of the leaderboard, ahead of Scottish visitors Alasdair Graham

and Kier Beaton. Kennedy was fastest on every stage to seal not only the category victory but also the Superdrive 2WD championship spoils, as well as seventh overall on the event. Scotsman Graham had to be content with second in class and 16th overall.

Class 9With Sean Devine retiring from the event and Glenn Allen deciding to stay at home, Conor McCloskey and Francis Regan topped the class nine standings, ahead of Emma McKinstry and Kenny Hull. McKinstry had a time consuming stall at the end of stage one, while a 40 second time penalty failed to help her cause.

Cl3: Shane Mcgirr & Neil Connolly

CL5: Michael Faloon & David McKone CL6: Glenn Williamson & Keith McEvoy

CL4: John & Gavin Devlin


Just Jamesassistant editor (uk) phil [email protected]

Whether we like it or not it’s inextricably linked to rallying. However, as the saying goes ‘every cloud has a silver lining.’

Our sport (on the GB side of the Irish sea) has been in decline for some time now, suff ering decreased entry levels, fewer marshals and falling numbers at motor clubs, the grass roots of the sport. Very little has been done to address these issues. � e sport has seemingly ‘lived’ with fewer entries, coped with declining numbers of marshals and motor clubs have relied on an ever-reducing handful of stalwarts to keep the whole thing ticking over. Well, it‘s not just a credit crunch we’re facing, there’s a club crunch coming with it, as the active numbers in the membership ranks reach an all time low.

So what’s the answer? Well, as hard as many will fi nd it to accept, there is a simple one. Run fewer rallies! If clubs co-promoted events instead of each running their own, you could address all the problems in one go. With fewer rallies you need fewer willing volunteers to organise and marshal events. What’s more, by giving less choice to the competitor, hopefully you will get one well supported event that

can off er good value for money, rather than two or more poorly supported rallies that provide poor value and/or run at a loss.

If you’re likely to end up with fewer rallies at some point anyway, why not bite the bullet now and save on a lot of hassle and heartache? Indeed, such an approach could give the sport a much needed boost and regenerate an interest in rallying to the benefi t of all involved.

Problem solved, then? Sadly, no. � ere will be reluctance in

many clubs to give up their individual events and co-operate with a ‘rival’ club in running another. In many instances, clubs will be forced down this route anyway, but do we want to wait for that to happen naturally?

More to the point, can we aff ord to? Tough times call for tough decisions and if we prune the number of events and championships the sport may not just survive, it may begin to thrive again.

So what if the MSA were to

introduce a rule whereby no section of track or road could be used more than once a year? It may seem a little draconian but hard times call for hard measures, and I for one don’t want to see our sport die for a lack of some life saving surgery.

Maybe more clubs should take a leaf from the books of the Blackpool-based North West Stages or the Penrith-based Pendragon Stages. Both are run by members from a number of clubs, both have high profi le town centre starts (good for sponsors), both have user friendly spectator stages (that generate added income), both use stages not rallied on other events (that appeals to competitors) and accordingly both invariably fi ll their entry lists weeks in advance of the rallies. Perhaps these are a blueprint for the future and more clubs should look at adopting their winning formats?

Every cloud has a silver lining, but only if you spot it and grab the opportunity. Don’t leave it until it’s too late!

Have you got a view on this subject? Write to Pacenotes and a selection of letters/emails will be published next month.

When The Going Gets

Tough…

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That ‘r’ word is dominating the media. It’s on the television, the radio, lots of websites and the newspapers are full of it, but the ‘r’ word I’m referring to is, unfortunately, not rallying. I am of

course referring to ‘recession.’

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Meeke and Champion took part in the fi nal round of the RX Racing winter series - the lead up to a one-make championships alongside the Rallycross Open Championship in 2009 and the 2009 MSA British Rallycross Championship.

A total of fourteen RX150s competed at the Superprix at Croft, with drivers including 2007 British Rallycross Champion

Ollie O’Donovan, Junior Rallycross competitor Jess Gwynne - the fi rst girl to drive the RX150 - and her grandfather Bill Gwynne, 52 years her senior, best known for his rally school.

With the heats over it was the Dungannon JWRC ace Kris Meeke who took the pole position for the superfi nal. Ollie O’Donovan was next up, with Ryan Champion third on the grid.

As the lights turned to green Ollie O’Donovan seemed to get bogged down on the grid and Meeke and Champion were left to fi ght it out for the lead at the fi rst bend.

Racing was tight and Champion had a few lunges at Meeke but it was the Dungannon man who reigned supreme and showed that he can drive anything with an engine very quickly indeed. Champion fi nished second while Ollie O’Donovan completed the podium.

� e winter championship went to the wire, but with Kris Meeke and Ryan Champion not scoring points, it was left to former rally driver and 2007 British Rallycross Champion Ollie O’Donovan to win the series. Ollie pipped Andy Scott and Tom Keet into second and third respectively for the title.

A delighted Kris Meeke said, “Racing with lots of people around me isn’t what I’m used to, but this is awesome fun! Rallycross has always intrigued me, and even more so these RX150s. � e best bit is that everyone is in the same boat, weight wise, so whether you’re a big lad or a small lad the weight is exactly the same.”

“Driving an RX150 is like jumping

onto a wild horse and trying to tame it,” enthused Meeke. “You have 150bhp to 400kilos - a power to weight ratio that translates to over 500bhp going through the rear wheels, and with a sequential shift gearbox they’re just incredible machines to drive. � e buzz of racing these machines is

just unbelievable. We were coming down the start-fi nish straight at about 110mph, and then you tip it in to the fi rst corner – the adrenalin rush is incredible.”

When Kris was asked would he come back next year, the Dungannon ace said with a huge grin, “Back next week, you mean!”

Former Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge winner Ryan Champion said: “� at was fantastic fun! � ere were

some places where I was closing in on Kris and on other parts of the circuit he would get away from me. � e RX 150s are so evenly matched and the power to weight ratio is phenomenal. I’d love to take part in more of the RX series next year and maybe I’d take a race win!”

� e RX150 costs £19,995 plus VAT, and has been developed over the last few years by a number of high profi le drivers in both Rallycross and Rallying.

Each RX150 is identical with drivers only allowed to make adjustments to suspension settings and tyre pressures. � is ensures that the racing is kept close and costs are kept low. A control tyre will be used in the category and drivers will be allowed one set of tyres per race meeting - with one spare front and one spare rear to allow for punctures.

Rally driver Willie Woods and Ollie O’Donovan, the current British Rallycross Champion, are behind the RX150 project.

Ollie O’Donovan said, “� e RX150 is

a cracking vehicle for Rallycross racing, as it has superb handling and can negotiate a wide range of surfaces. It off ers a very high level of performance at a reasonable price. Drivers will be able to budget at the start of the season and know they will not be hit with expensive rebuilds through the year.”

Competitors will need to compete in at least 5 rounds of the championship to be eligible for an offi cial classifi cation at the end of the season.

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New Formula All The Rage…

38 pacenotes.net november 2008

Under normal circumstances you’d fi nd Kris Meeke and Ryan Champion doing battle on the rally stages, but RX Racing has convinced the guys to try their hand at a bit of Rallycross in the new RX Racing formula.

RX150 Tech SpecEngine: Honda 954cc, 4cyl, 150hp.Gearbox: 6 Speed SequentialTransmission: Quaife Gear Driven Link Drive, Automatic Torque Biasing Differential.Chassis: 1.5” CDS Tube, Powder Coated. Tested beyond FIA safety standards.Safety: Front & Rear Bumpers, Side Nerf Bars, Integrated Fire Extinguisher, Side Nets, Rain Light and windscreen wash/wipe system.Brakes: Stainless Steel Cross Drilled Discs all round with Brembo Calipers and Bias adjustment.Dimensions: Length 2800mm/Width 1850mm/Height 1450mm.Performance: 0-60mph in 3.5secs, 120mph.Weight:525kg (All vehicles will be weighted to a minimum of 525kg including driver)

For more information please log on to www.rxracing.co.uk

DRIVING AN RX150 IS LIKE JUMPING ONTO A WILD HORSE AND TRYING TO TAME IT - KRIS MEEKE

Ollie O’Donovan, Kris Meeke & Ryan Champion


Tel. R.O.I.: 1850 55 55 00Tel. N.I.: 00 353 47 30143Email: [email protected]: www.gameracer.ie

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BFG_DPS_irish_winners.qxd:BFG_DPS_irish_winners 21/10/08 16:34 Page 1

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1 SébastienLOEB........... 3:21:17.42 DanielSORDO............. 3:21:42.33 MikkoHIRVONEN........ 3:22:19.94 FrançoisDUVAL.......... 3:22:28.25 PetterSOLBERG.......... 3:24:44.86 Jari-MattiLATVALA..... 3:25:21.27 ChrisATKINSON.......... 3:25:22.38 AndreasMIKKELSEN... 3:26:37.09 MatthewWILSON........ 3:29:00.610 BriceTIRABASSI......... 3:30:22.4

RD12 Results

Petter Solberg & Phil Mills

Sun, Sea And Seb…

Winners: Seb Loeb & Daniel Elena

Loeb seized control of the twelfth round in the series right from the word go, with team mate Dani Sordo acting as his faithful rear gunner. The balance of the Citroens and their powerful engines meant Ford had no answers on the hot Spanish tar.

Seb took a comfortable 15.8 second cushion into the Saturday leg, maintaining his clean sweep in the morning, when he was fastest in SS7, SS8 and SS9. In the afternoon Mikko Hirvonen and Francois Duval beat him in SS10 and SS12, but Loeb still managed to notch up another stage win, and with a 27.7 second lead the Sunday was pretty much a formality.

In the end he took the victory by 24.9 seconds, his fourth win on

the trot, having excelled in Finland, Germany and New Zealand. This was Loeb’s fourth win in succession in Spain, having won in 2007, 2006 and 2005 as well!

The Spanish win meant Loeb had a 12 point lead over Mikko` Hirvonen in the battle for the 2008 drivers’ title, and it meant he

could potentially clinch the overall honours on the following Tour de Corse - the Frenchman’s home event…

Loeb commented afterwards, “The win in this rally means we have achieved a total of 45 victories. Not bad! I am very happy to have got it because it is a huge step in the struggle for the drivers’ title. The rally went perfectly for us.”

Dani Sordo meanwhile took the runners-up spot and like Loeb he put in an impressive performance. The Spaniard was the only runner

anywhere near Loeb at times and he played the perfect support role, taking second in front of his home supporters.

The ‘one two’ result, combined with Loeb’s win, saw Citroen increase its margin over Ford in the manufacturers’ title race from 20 points to 27, with a maximum 54

still up for grabs.BP Ford Abu Dhabi’s Mikko

Hirvonen completed the podium, but only after his team-mate Francois Duval was instructed to let the Finn in front.

Hirvonen commented, “This wasn’t how I wanted to take a podium and I really have to thank Francois. He was a true team player and helped me to score an extra point. Winning the drivers’ championship will be very difficult now, but it isn’t out of the question so I will keep trying.”

Subaru’s Petter Solberg hung onto take fifth, albeit more than two minutes off the Fords, who were a minute or so off Loeb’s Citroen.

In the JWRC battle, Ireland’s Shaun Gallagher was fourth and Kris Meeke, who was running in a JWRC points-scoring position, went out on the final day.

Meanwhile, Eamonn Boland and MJ Morrissey sealed 15th overall in their Impreza WRC.

French superstar Sebastien Loeb dominated the Rally Catalunya to take his ninth win of the season, and move closer to securing a record fifth drivers’ title, something never before achieved in the history of the World Rally Championship.

The win in This rally means we have achieved a ToTal of 45 vicTories. noT bad! i am very happy To have goT iT because iT is a huge sTep in The sTruggle for The drivers’ TiTle. The rally wenT perfecTly for us - sebasTien loeb

3rd: Mikko Hirvonen & Jarmo Lehtinen


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Dani Sordo & Marc Marti

Francois Duval during the service interval

1 S.LOEB............................... 1062 M.HIRVONEN........................ 923 D.SORDO.............................. 594 C.ATKINSON......................... 455 J.LATVALA............................ 426 P.SOLBERG........................... 407 H.SOLBERG.......................... 228 F.DUVAL................................ 229 G.GALLI................................ 1710 M.WILSON............................ 13

STANDINGS

Can Loeb Win? CorsicanSmall in stature but a giant by reputation, Sebastien Loeb moved closer to a fifth consecutive world title when he won the French rally in Corsica.

We Were much faster throughout the rally and that’s great for me and the team. We’ll add another tWo more points to our championship lead. so noW We’ll have to see hoW We get on in Japan - sebastien loeb

The Citroen driver has now won 10 times this season and leads Finn Mikko Hirvonen, second in Corsica, by 14 points with two events remaining.

“It’s getting better and better,” Loeb said. “To win in Corsica is a great moment. We were much faster throughout the rally and that’s great for me and the team. We’ll add another two more points to our championship lead. So now we’ll have to see how we get on in Japan.”

Ford number one Hirvonen had dropped to fifth after losing two minutes 34 seconds because of a puncture on the 13th stage. However he was fourth after stage 14 and climbed back to finish second ahead of team mate Francois Duval of Belgium and compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala, after being helped to win the final stage.

Despite his own reluctance, the

Finn benefited from team orders to move past the Fords of Latvala and Duval. Ford moved within 23 points of Citroen in the manufacturers’ standings after Loeb’s team mate Dani Sordo crashed out of the first

leg on the Friday.Meanwhile, the reigning World

Champions’ 10th win of the year takes them level with their own record for the highest number of wins in a single season, a benchmark they established in 2005, and which they can still better this time round. The Corsican win

is the 46th world victory of their career.

Loeb commented, “It would obviously have been more enjoyable if we had had a fight on our hands, but there’s nothing I can do about that. It’s not me you need to ask what our opponents will have to do to beat us on this event! Winning your home event is always something special. We are unbeaten this year on asphalt and we have pulled further clear at the top of the championship standings. The weekend could have been worse...”

After Corsica, Loeb (Citroen) sits on 106 points, with Hirvonen (Ford) second on 92 and Sordo (Citroen) third on 59. Citroen leads

the manufacturers’ battle on 169 points, with Ford second on 146 and Subaru a long way behind on 87.

The penultimate round of the 2008 World Rally Championship runs in Japan, from October 31st to November 2nd, where Hirvonen will have to drive like the proverbial kamikaze to save Ford from defeat.

2nd: Mikko Hirvonen & Jarmo Lehtinen

1 SebastienLOEB........... 3:42:58.02 MikkoHIRVONEN........ 3:46:22.73 FrançoisDUVAL.......... 3:46:29.64 JariMattiLATVALA..... 3:46:35.55 PetterSOLBERG.......... 3:48:33.46 ChrisATKINSON.......... 3:49:08.47 UrmoAAVA................. 3:50:23.28 MatthewWILSON........ 3:52:00.29 MadsOSTBERG.......... 3:52:11.310 BarryCLARK.............. 3:56:36.3

RD13 RESULTS

Winners: Seb Loeb & Daniel Elena


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Is A BanThe Best Plan?

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s true what they say: nobody really appreciates what they’ve got until it’s gone.

I’m talking in terms of Irish rallying. For years I’ve been told time and time again that rallying is, “not what it used to be,” and being an ‘80s child, my only knowledge of those days when rallying was supposedly in its prime, is from rally videos and old magazines.

To be honest, I’m inclined to agree. Looking back at entry lists for the likes of the Circuit of Ireland and Ulster rallies in the early ‘80s conjures up images of Irish

rallying’s heyday. Henri Toivonen, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Pentti Airikkala and Michele Mouton are just a selection of the famous names that graced our stages. In fact, back then it was diffi cult to fi nd an Irishman seeded inside the top 10!

But we need to be careful. In another 20 or 30 years time, could we be looking back on today’s rallying with the same longing for a time machine to transport us back?

Undoubtedly, the 2007 season

will always be regarded as a vintage year, with the infl ux of world rally teams to the Emerald Isle. But with the worldwide economy in a slump, 2008 has gradually seen a number of Irish privateer World Rally Car crews slip by the wayside.

Among the worldwide rallying community, Ireland is regarded as having the premier national rally championship outside the WRC. Why? Namely because we have so many WRC cars at our fi ngertips.



Irish Tarmac Future

We need to make sure that doesn’t change, and that the ‘powers that be’ don’t take the buzz out of our sport.

In some quarters, there are movements to ban World Rally Cars, with whispers suggesting that they should be just that - used on the world stage only. If the FIA gets its wish - which it will - the new Super 2000 formula will replace WRC cars in the world championship. And if that’s for the better of the sport as a whole, fair enough, but please don’t force national championships to follow suit.

According to an event director, WRCs are, “a dying breed.” But I think he’s wrong. As one leading competitor pointed out to me, it has taken 10 years to build the bank of World Rally Cars that Ireland possesses. While they may not be on the entry lists, they are in garages around the country.

He has a point. Switching to another formula won’t help matters - Super 2000 is still expensive, and it won’t entice the World Rally Car

owners to switch mounts based on costs alone. So if WRCs are banned, we may not only lose the cars, but possibly the competitors as well.

Nor will it make events any more competitive, as no matter what championship or class competitors contest, there is always going to be a competitor who has deeper pockets than the rest.

Having said all that, I can’t help but feel that the writing is on the wall. Recently, organisers of the Jim Clark Rally, Rally Isle of Man and Ulster rallies agreed to outlaw World Rally Cars from the international categories of their events in 2009. Of course, these three rallies are also counting rounds of the British championship, and it’s no surprise that it’s the

British championship organisers who have pushed these rules through.

So what does that mean for the Irish Tarmac Championship WRC crews? That’s the million dollar (or perhaps Euro) question, and the answer has yet to be decided. Apparently, one of the ideas currently being considered could

see two international events run alongside each other, thus catering for both series.

So if that idea goes ahead, who will be winner of the Ulster International Rally, for example? The BRC registered competitor in his Group N car, or the ITC registered competitor in his WRC car? It sounds like things are going to become more complicated than

they need to be.If an event is a round of two

major championships, surely it should formulate its regulations to accommodate all competitors involved? And surely that should mean having one well supported rally? These new rules only serve to make the Tarmac series competitors feel like second class

citizens, but perhaps the powers that be will surprise us with an easy to understand solution that pleases everyone.

They would need to, as there have been calls from some quarters to drop those rounds from the Tarmac series and replace them with another two or three Irish events. Of course, these calls are nothing new, but it’s not good when

If the fIA gets Its wIsh - whIch It wIll - the new super 2000 formulA wIll replAce wrc cArs In the world chAmpIonshIp. And If thAt’s for the better of the sport As A whole, fAIr enough, but pleAse don’t force nAtIonAl chAmpIonshIps to follow suIt.

Super 2000 in action in ItalyPat & Noelle Horan in their Abarth

Kris Meeke in his 2WD Clio



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competitors feel that way. � at ‘solution’ - if it is indeed a viable one - is not that simple to carry out. Each round holds a stake in the ITC, and company law must be adhered to…

Meanwhile, the Tarmac Rally Organisers Assocation (TROA) has also made changes to next year’s regulations, as reported by Andrew Bushe in last month’s edition of Pacenotes. Bonus points are up for grabs for those in the Group N, Super 2000 and Super 1600 categories, in an attempt to encourage more competitors into those classes. Could this be a fi rst step towards banning WRCs in the Irish Tarmac Championship?

I really hope this isn’t the case. Apart from anything else, we would lose the spectacle of Irish rallying. Having recently attended a round of Italy’s national championship, which featured a smattering of Super 2000 cars, Group N and countless two wheel drive cars (there wasn’t a World Rally Car in sight), I wasn’t one bit impressed.

In fact, my comments were

something along the lines of it being, “like watching paint dry,” and that’s not intended to off end any Italian readers. Even the sole Super 2000 competitor at Rally Catalunya failed to invoke much excitement, when compared to the WRC machinery. Perhaps the Super 2000+ formula, which will have a number of upgraded parts to increase performance, will help matters. But I’m not convinced.

Going back to the Italian event, thankfully it was also a counting round of the FIA European Historic Championship, which added some pizzazz and excitement. Porsches, Lancias and Fiats were the order of the day, bringing back memories of rallying’s golden era.

Perhaps historic rallies and the ‘Slowly Sideways’ group of 2038 will feature World Rally Cars, and we’ll all look at them and wish we could relive the days of the late ‘90s and the ‘noughties’? Which brings me back to my initial point - we really don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone...

� e good old days! � e historics bring back memories

Eamonn Boland enjoyed the Spanish reception

Metro 6R4 - Part of the Slowly Sideways contingent

Super 2000 future?

Power is nothing without control

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WordsAustin shinnors

PICTUrEsJohnBayly

When the juniors arrived in Nenagh, there were six drivers in with a chance of claiming the first ever NJRC title.

Vincent McAree was leading on 44 points, Peter Wilson was second on 40 and there was a three way tie for third as Ross Forde, Jason Ryan and Patrick Cunningham were all on 30. Sixth placed driver Damien McCarthy had a mathematical

chance of victory on 28 points. The close competition of the earlier rounds seemed set to continue.

On a bright and fine Sunday, Damien McCarthy set the pace in his Honda Civic and led for the first five stages. It looked like the Cork man was going to mount a late challenge for the championship, but he slipped off the road on stage six and lost six minutes.

The next stage was to be a problem for long time championship leader McAree, when he put his Peugeot 106 off for the first time in the series. Jason Ryan went on to win the rally, and ensured that he was in the shoot out at the last round, with a total of 30 points and third place.

Peter Wilson finished second,

and eight points put him in the championship lead with 48 points. In third place was Pat Cunningham, but his 6 points were not enough for him to mount a challenge for the title.

Ross Forde was fourth, but he decided to concentrate on the Suzuki Swift Cup, where he is the leading junior with one round left to go - the Tempest Rally on

November 8th. With his non finish, McAree dropped to second and 44 points.

And so to the final round - the four tarmac stages of the GSMC Mini Stages rally at Baltinglass, Co.Wicklow. Wilson was the favourite, Ryan was definitely capable of causing an upset, but it was felt that McAree’s little Peugeot

would struggle against the power of the Civics…

Ryan put in a stunning time on the first stage but he was delayed by a brake problem on two and an overshoot on three, and he finished third. Damien McCarthy led from stage two to the end and won his third tarmac rally of the series. A stunning time on the last stage saw Pat Cunningham promoted to second, a mere three seconds behind McCarthy. Wilson was fourth and that was sufficient for the Kells driver to lift the first ever NJRC crown!

Peter Wilson wins a prize of 5,000 Euro as NJRC winner and as a class winner he will be interviewed for the Billy Coleman award, worth 32,000 Euro. The other class winners were Vincent McAree, Ross Forde, Eamon Power and Adrian Levis, and they too will be interviewed. In the event that Wilson wins the Billy Coleman award, the NJRC prize money goes to championship runner up Jason Ryan.

Wilson Is First Junior King

The nexT sTage was To be a problem for long Time championship leader mcaree, when he puT his peugeoT 106 off for The firsT Time in The series.

RD8 STANDINGS1 PeterWilson HondaCivic........................... 482 JasonRyan HondaCivic........................... 443 VincentMcAreee Peugeot106.......................... 444 DamienMcCarthy HondaCivic........................... 405 PatrickCunningham HondaCivic........................... 406 RossForde SuzukiSwift........................... 367 EamonPower Peugeot106.......................... 348 MarkSheahan Peugeot206.......................... 26

Championship Winners: Peter Wilson & John Kilmurray

The Birr Forestry rally was the seventh and penultimate round of the National Junior rally Championship (NJrC).

Winners RD7: Jason Ryan & Tadgh O’Sullivan

FINAL

1 AndyFENWICK/LeeTINDALL SkodaOctaviaWRC....... 1:42:212 SimonMAUGER/BrianCAMMACK FordEscortMk2........... 1:43:133 DavidKYNASTON/AndyRUSSELL AudiA3quattro.............. 1:43:524 TonyTHOMPSON/PaulHUGHES MitsubishiLancerEvo9. 1:43:535 DavidHARDIE/JohnMcCULLOCH SubaruImpreza.............. 1:47:056 GrahamHOLLIS/AshleyTRIMBLE FordEscortRS............... 1:49:427 MarkWORLEY/HamishCAMPBELL MitsubishiEvo9............ 1:49:578 DavidCORRIS/MarkMASON FordFiesta4x4............... 1:56:119 BillyCOWE/RobertPETERSON SubaruImpreza.............. 1:57:5410 RichardBUTLER/MattDUBBER HondaCivicTypeR........ 1:58:3311 TracieLouiseMUIR/GarryMUIR Peugeot106.................. 2:01:1112 GeoffGLOVER/CharlieTURNER VauxhallAstra................ 2:01:1613 IanMURRAY/IainCRAVEN VauzhallAstra................ 2:01:2014 MartinNEWSON/PeterMORRIS MGZR........................... 2:12:1715 RolandJONES/KateGAMEZ MGZR........................... 2:14:3516 TonyTHOMPSON/PeterGRANT MGZR........................... 2:20:39

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WordsAndrew Haill

PICTUrEsCMWI.NET

RESULTS

Championship Winners: David Kynaston & Andy Russell

Third place on the final round of the Championship, the UTS Cheviot National Rally, was more than enough to secure their second title - but it was a nerve-wracking day!

As crews headed for Otterburn, three drivers remained in contention for the title. However, nobody could have foreseen Simpson’s early exit, when the Hyundai left the road on the opening stage. Although relatively undamaged, it could not be retrieved in time for him and co-driver Andrew Roughead to continue. One down, two to go!

Next it was Mann’s turn to hit trouble when his Subaru Impreza WRC started to suffer from a slipping clutch. Although he and Alun Cook were able to borrow a replacement unit from eventual event winner Andy Fenwick, and in spite of a sterling effort by his service crew to change it, the Impreza was just OTL by the time the job was completed.

That left Kynaston and Russell needing to finish, but not needing to win to take the championship crown - one of the most difficult things for a competitive crew to achieve! However, it all came right in the end and the trophy will be heading to Devon for a second time.

At the top of the event leaderboard, Andy Fenwick and Lee Tindall won the Cheviot outright in their Skoda Octavia WRC, completing their tally of victories on Otterburn-based events. It was not without its dramas though, and with a couple of stages to go, the car’s rear differential failed,

leaving them to cruise to the finish at a maximum of 70 mph. Fortunately, they had already built such a leading margin that the end result was not affected.

Runners-up on the day, after another fantastic run, were Simon Mauger and Brian Cammack in their two-wheel drive Ford Escort RS. With Simpson retaining second place in the overall drivers’ championship, Mauger

moves up to third, just four points behind him. Meanwhile, Cammack finishes second in the co-drivers’ table.

Graham Hollis and Ashley Trimble took their Ford Escort RS to a top six finish, confirming themselves as Class B11 winners this season. Their performances throughout the season have also kept them in touch with Mauger in the Rear-Wheel Drive category, still finishing a fine second in amongst some impressive opposition.

Richard Butler and Matt Dubber had been in a season-long tussle in their Type R Civic with Paul Harewood and Bob Jones for Class N3 honours, but the latter’s retirement on the Cheviot brought the matter to a premature close. The Honda crew also

narrowly edged out Martin Newson and Peter Morris for the top spot in the front-wheel-drive section, tie-break rules having to be invoked for the driver’s trophy.

Tracey Louise and Garry Muir rounded off their first year of MSA Asphalt Championship events with yet another class win, giving them a full house in Class B9. Meanwhile, Geoff Glover and Charlie Turner

appear to have overcome the gearbox troubles that have blighted their season and a good run over Otterburn has moved them up to third in B11.

The Richard Egger Insurance BTRDA Asphalt Rally Series saw Chris Jones and Richard Williams shine in their Ford Focus STI and third place overall on the Keith Knox

Stages served to confirm them as 2008 Champions.

It would be true to say that brother-and-sister Simon Selby and Hayley Henderson haven’t had the best of seasons with their Austin Seven, but a good run on Otterburn must give them considerable encouragement for the future. Maximum series class points and just 20 seconds behind the event class winner are just desserts for their efforts.

A highly enjoyable season in both MSA and BTRDA Asphalt series is now at a close, and with Richard Egger Insurance confirmed as headline sponsors for 2009, we can only hope that the levels of competition can be maintained throughout next season!

Kynaston StarsOn The Tar…

1st: Andy Fenwick & Lee Tindall

Chris Jones & Rich Williams

david Kynaston and Andy russell are the 2008 richard Egger Insurance MsA Asphalt rally Champions!


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WORDSJonathan MacDonald

PICTURESJohn O’Neill

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1 CONOR McCLOSKEY/FRANCIS REGAN FORD FOCUS .................... 36.502 SEAN DEVINE/DAMIEN DUFFIN SUBARU WRC .................. 37.183 GLENN ALLEN/DAMIEN CONNOLLY TOYOTA COROLLA ............ 37.364 NEIL McCANCE/SEAN FERRIS MITSUBISHI EVO............... 38.155 DONAGH KELLY/KEVIN FLANAGAN MITSUBISHI EVO............... 38.286 RAYMOND JOHNSTON/RICHARD BELL MITSUBISHI EVO............... 39.127 ADRIAN HETHERINGTON/GARY NOLAN FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 39.128 JOHN CAIRNS/JAMES CAIRNS SUBARU ........................... 39.189 CATHAL ROGERS/EOIGHAN ROGERS MITSUBISHI EVO............... 39.2410 MARTIN CAIRNS/ANDREW PURCELL SUBARU N10 .................... 39.5411 EMMA McKINSTRY/KENNY HULL SUBARU IMPREZA ............ 39.5612 PAUL BRITTON/MARTIN McGARTY SUBARU IMPREZA ............ 40.1913 RAYMOND MASON/PETER MARTIN MITSUBISHI EVO............... 40.2014 VIVIAN HAMILL/PAUL HAMILL FORD ESCORT RS............. 40.2615 TOMAS MULDOON/THOMAS NUGENT MITSUBISHI EVO............... 40.3116 BRIAN MCFALL/RONNIE CRAIG MITSUBISHI EVO............... 40.3817 PAUL WARD/PETER WARD SUBARU IMPREZA ............ 40.4118 JAMES KENNEDY/JOHN ROWAN FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 40.4319 JOHN WALKER/DESSIE WILSON MITSUBISHI EVO............... 40.5820 GARY McBRIEN/ALAN McNUTT MITSUBISHI EVO............... 41.00

RESULTS

� e 22-year-old set the stages alight at the Omagh Motor Club event, with fastest or equal fastest times on nine out of 10 stages in his hired Ford Focus WRC. Navigated by Francis Regan, it was a truly dominant display by the young driver, who is among the three main contenders for the 2008 title.

“I knew we had to win to keep the championship alive,” McCloskey said. “We had a good start in the morning, although we were lucky on stage two as we stalled at the start, but everyone beat the bogey time anyway. After that we kept pushing and built a good lead. Going into the last two stages, I knew it was my rally to lose, so we kept it steady. It’s good to get the win and it has taken a bit of pressure off !”

It was McCloskey who made his intentions clear from the start of the 10 stage event with fastest time on the rally opener. While Seamus Leonard was forced into retirement when his Impreza WRC lost hydraulic pressure before the start, McCloskey raced to fi rst position,

fi ve seconds ahead of Devine.Championship leaders Sean

Devine and Damien Duffi n tried to fi ght back and equalled McCloskey through the following two stages,

but it was the rally leader who extended his advantage on stage four. � ey were equal fastest again through the fi fth test, only for McCloskey to ensure his maiden rally success with a string of three quickest stage times!

Devine nipped a few seconds

back over the penultimate stage, but it wasn’t enough to worry the 22-year-old driver in front. A clean run through the fi nal test saw him secure his maiden rally victory

by 28 seconds, while Devine was lucky to reach the fi nish in second position after hitting a deer during the closing miles!

While the day was all about the tussle between McCloskey and Devine, third placed Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly lay in wait.

McCloskey Triumphant In Tyrone…Kilrea’s Conor McCloskey joined the rally winner’s list in late September when he claimed his maiden victory at the McGillin Bushwhacker Rally, round eight of the Pacenotes MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship!

Winners: Conor McCloskey & Francis Regan

2nd: Sean Devine & Damien Duffi n

Bushwhacker Rally

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� ey were only a handful of seconds adrift of the leaders through most stages in their older Toyota Corolla WRC, but were unable to match the hot pace up front. � e reigning champions are now on the back foot going into the fi nal two rounds of the series - they must claim victory at the FM Contracts Down Rally and hope their rivals falter in order to keep their title hopes alive.

Outside the battle among the leading trio of WRC men, three Sunoco Fuels Group N crews completed the remainder of the top six.

Neil McCance and Sean Ferris had another superb drive to seal the class honours as well as fourth overall, which helps to keep their hopes of title success alive. McCance leads the Group N standings but will miss the penultimate round of the series as it clashes with a round of the UK Evo Challenge. � at could give his rivals an opportunity to capitalise,

especially Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan who fi nished fi fth overall. � ey trail McCance by 21 points, so a victory in County Down could propel them back into the hunt.

Raymond Johnston and Richard Bell completed the top three in Group N and claimed sixth overall

in the process. Since their switch back to the production category, the crew has enjoyed two top six overall fi nishes, but their late foray into the category sees them 25 points adrift of McCance.

Cathal and Eoighan Rogers fi nished ninth overall and fourth

in Group N which allowed them to hold on to second position in the production category standings. � ey are just seven points adrift of McCance and could potentially move into the top spot after the next event.

Meanwhile, in the Superdrive

two-wheel-drive category, Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan claimed the honours after powering their Escort into an excellent seventh overall. � ey fi nished more than one minute ahead of their nearest 2WD rivals, with Vivian and Paul Hamill claiming second ahead

3rd: Glenn Allen & Damien Connolly

4th & Winner GpN: Neil McCance & Sean Ferris

GOING INTO THE LAST TWO STAGES, I KNEW IT WAS MY RALLY TO LOSE, SO WE KEPT IT STEADY. IT’S GOOD TO GET THE WIN AND IT HAS TAKEN A BIT OF PRESSURE OFF! - CONOR MCCLOSKEY

5th: Donagh Kelly & Kevin Flanagan 6th: Raymond Johnston & Richard Bell


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Class 11 JOHN QUIGLEY/MARK CURRAN HONDA CIVIC .................... 47.01

Class 21 NEIL McCANCE/SEAN FERRIS MITSUBISHI EVO 9............ 38.152 DONAGH KELLY/KEVIN FLANAGAN MITSUBISHI EVO 9............ 38.283 RAYMOND JOHNSTON/RICHARD BELL MITSUBISHI EVO 9............ 39.124 CATHAL ROGERS/EOIGHAN ROGERS MITSUBISHI EVO 9............ 39.245 PAUL BRITTON/MARTIN McGARTY SUBARU IMPREZA ............ 40.19

Class 31 SHANE McGIRR/NIALL CONNELLY TOYOTA STARLET ............. 41.502 DERMOT O’HAGAN/PIERCE DOHERTY Jr VAUXHALL CORSA ........... 42.453 ORAN DONNELLY/PAUL HUGHES VAUXHALL CORSA............ 43.144 GLEN IRWIN/DEREK TORRENS VAUXHALL NOVA .............. 45.445 JONNY LEONARD/JACKIE DONALDSON NISSAN MICRA ................. 47.17

Class 41 NIALL DONNELLY/STEPHEN O’HANLON FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 43.512 MERVYN WILSON/RICHARD GAMBLE FORD ESCORT MK 2 ......... 43.553 DARRAGH KELLY/GERRY HUGHES PEUGEOT 205 ................... 46.154 BRIAN LITTLE/RONAN HORISK SUNBEAM......................... 51.09

Class 51 CONOR KELLY/DAVID VANCE FORD ESCORT MK ............ 41.202 WILLIAM SMITH/ALEX EWART HONDA CIVIC 16V ............. 41.53

CLASS RESULTS

Class 1Peter O’Kane and Mark O’Connor retired their Civic early from the class one battle, while Mark Donnelly and Patrick Robinson grabbed an early lead from Declan Leonard and Dermot McCaff rey. Leonard moved in front after stage three and seemed comfortable in the number one slot when Donnelly retired.Unfortunately, one stage later, class leader Leonard also retired, along with Conor and Michael McCrossan, leaving John Quigley and Mark Curran as the sole class survivors. � ey stayed out of trouble and claimed the class victory at the fi nish ramp.

Class 2� ere was some hot competition in the Sunoco Fuels-backed production category, with 25 competitors entered in the class.

� e Mitsubishi men outnumbered the Subaru men 4 to 1, so there was no surprise when the leading positions were dominated by Mitsubishi drivers.

David Crossen and Jonny Harte grabbed an early lead, but retired after stage two, so at the top of the class, Neil McCance and Sean Ferris bolstered their championship chances with another victory. After a nip and tuck battle with Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan, McCance emerged victorious by 13 seconds from Kelly, with Raymond Johnston and Richard Bell third.

Cathal and Eoighan Rogers kept their championship dreams alive with fourth in class, while Paul Britton and Martin McGarrity fi nished fi fth, ahead of Raymond Mason and Peter Martin.

Class 3Class three was well supported,

with eight crews locking horns, and only one failed to reach the fi nish. Shane McGirr and Niall Connelly were the men to beat in their Toyota Starlet, and after grabbing the category lead on stage one, they went on to claim a start to fi nish victory.

Dermot O’Hagan and Pierce Doheny Jnr were their nearest rivals, but only managed to upstage the category winners on one occasion. In the end, they had to settle for second in class, almost one minute adrift, while Oran Donnelly and Paul Hughes completed the top three, after Gareth Sayers and Gareth Gilchrist retired their Nova.

Class 4Two crews fought tooth and nail for class four honours in a battle that went right down to the wire. Mervyn Wilson and Richard Gamble grabbed the early lead from Niall Donnelly and Stephen O’Hanlon, before Donnelly moved in front after stage two.

Donnelly continued to set the

Class Battles…

CL1: John Quigley & Mark Curran

7th: Adrian Hetherington & Gary Nolan 8th: John & James Cairns

of James Kennedy and John Rowan.Round nine of the Pacenotes

series sees competitors return to County Down for the Castlewellan-based FM Contracts Down Rally. After McCloskey’s retirement at Fermanagh’s Fisher Engineering

Stages, his Bushwhacker victory has thrown him right back into the title hunt.

But it’s Sean Devine and Damien Duffi n who continue to hold the upper hand, and if they win the penultimate round of the series, the

2008 title will go back to Strabane. � e Down Rally took place on 18 October, and Pacenotes has all the action covered on page 32!

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3 CIARIN MAHON/CONOR BRUTON FORD ESCORT .................. 42.124 ROBERT ERWIN/CHRIS RAGG TALBOT SUNBEAM ........... 42.505 RAYMOND CONLON/CONOR McGINNITY

Class 61 PHILIP MCCONNELL/AINE McGUIGAN FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 42.362 DARREN DONNELLY/MICHAEL LOUGHNEY FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 42.583 WILSON McCONKEY/LIAM McAULEY FORD ESCORT MK2 ........ 43.014 PAUL MOGEY/RICHARD HUNNIFORD FORD ESCORT .................. 43.045 GLENN WILLIAMSON/GERALD MULLAN

Class 7 1 ADRIAN HETHERINGTON/GARY NOLAN FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 39.122 VIVIAN HAMILL/PAUL HAMILL FORD ESCORT RS............. 40.263 JAMES KENNEDY/JOHN ROWAN FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 40.434 ASHLEY WHITE/BRIAN McELHILL VAUXHALL ASTRA ............ 41.465 JASON ROCHE/RAY GREENE FORD ESCORT MK2 .......... 41.58

Class 9 1 CONOR McCLUSKEY/FRANCIS REGAN FORD FOCUS .................... 36.502 SEAN DEVINE/DAMIEN DUFFIN SUBARU WRC .................. 37.183 GLENN ALLEN/DAMIEN CONNOLLY TOYOTA COROLLA WRC ... 37.364 JOHN CAIRNS/JAMES CAIRNS SUBARU ........................... 39.185 MARTIN CAIRNS/ANDREW PURCELL SUBARU N10 .................... 39.54

CLASS RESULTS

pace, but Wilson fought back during the latter half of the rally. On the fi nal stage, he swiped 10 seconds out of the leader’s advantage, but it was too late, as Donnelly secured the victory by a slender four seconds. Wilson had to settle for second, with Darragh Kelly and Gerry Hughes third, ahead of Brian Little and Ronan Horisk.

Class 5It looked as though Conor Kelly and David Vance were going to run away with the class fi ve spoils, but the number 58 seeds, William Smith and Alex Ewart, kept the Escort crew honest throughout the event. � e Honda Civic crew were only a handful of seconds adrift on each stage, and although Kelly claimed the winning trophy, Smith fi nished 33 seconds in arrears.

Ciaran Mahon and Conor Bruton arrived home in third position with their Escort, while Robert Erwin and Chris Ragg claimed fourth, ahead of Raymond Conlon and Conor McGinnity. Raymond Doyle and Tony McHugh completed the top six.

Class 6Philip McConnell and Aine McGuigan had to fi ght to claim the class six spoils. Darren Donnelly and Michael Loughney were hot on their tail from the start, and while

McConnell was fastest over the opening three tests, it was Donnelly who moved into the category lead after the following three stages.

McConnell had to up his game to re-take the advantage, and he swiped 20 seconds out of his rival on stage eight. Helped when second placed Donnelly received a 10

second penalty, McConnell arrived home as the victor by 22 seconds, with Donnelly in second position. Wilson McConkey and Liam McAuley completed the top three.

Class 7Class seven saw Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan take a start to fi nish victory, as well as overall Superdrive two wheel drive honours. Nobody could touch the fl ying Escort crew, with Hetherington claiming class

honours as well as seventh overall. He fi nished more than one minute ahead of second placed Vivian and Paul Hamill.

� e Hamills were the best of the rest in their Escort, snatching second position by 17 seconds from James Kennedy and John Rowan. Ashley White and Brian McElhill

claimed fourth, as well as top front wheel drive honours, with Jason Roche and Ray Greene completing the top fi ve.

Class 9� e top three overall sacrifi ced their class positions, so John and James Cairns topped class nine from Martin Cairns and Andrew Purcell, with Emma McKinstry and Kenny Hull third.

CL3: Shane McGirr & Niall Connelly

CL5: Conor Kelly & David Vance CL6: Philip McConnell & Aine McGuigan

CL4: Niall Donnelly & Stephen O’Hanlon

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JRE - THE WINNING CHOICE

I write this month’s article having come back from a busy weekend preparing the Mk2 RS2000 that I will be using on the Roger Albert Clark Rally in November. The car has very kindly been hired to me by William Onions with the support of Kumho, CES UK Limited, Speedline Wheels and Alan Brown at Questmead, together with others. It is ready for a test as course car on the forthcoming Cambrian Rally, before going into the 3 day Roger Albert Clark Rally in November.

I have been involved in the Roger Albert Clark Rally in the role as chase car for Will Onions for the last 2 years. It is an event I have really enjoyed being involved in and I am getting very excited about competing in 2008.

I have had a long search for a navigator - someone who likes having good fun for 3 days as well as being able to read a map! Iwan Jones from Oswestry, who is currently riding high in the Welsh

Road Rally Championship, will be joining me on the maps for both the Cambrian shake down and the Roger Albert Clark itself.

The deal with Will Onions was to herald an attack on the British Historic Championship in 2009, however, with the decision to go down the route of a Dunlop controlled tyre it seems unlikely that we will be unable to compete on the championship. At the present time we are discussing options as to whether we compete

on the events but claim points. Will is currently building a new D5 car for the RAC and for next year’s championship, so we had hoped to run a two car team in what I think is a very enjoyable championship.

The Maxi has now been mothballed for the remaining part of the year. The plan is to drag it out on a few local events in 2009, with a trip back to Donegal for unfinished business. Obviously this will all depend upon the economic climate. Being involved

in the property business, we are seeing significant reduction in levels of work, but obviously wherever possible I will be out enjoying myself in either the Mk2 or the Maxi.

I am in the process of producing a full history of P2 FMC for next month’s Pacenotes. I have nearly all of the information, but if anybody has got any pictures of the car when Gwyndaf Evans, Barry Coleman or Liam O’Callaghan used it, then please could they email them to Pacenotes for inclusion in the article. I have got plenty of pictures of it whilst it has been in my hands, but obviously older pictures are increasingly hard to get hold of.

That’s it for now. The next report will be on my return to rear wheel drive on forest tracks after 25 years, so it should make interesting reading!

RegardsGuy Woodcock

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QuotationToday


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Drivers1 DavidBogie............................ 502 NikElsmore........................... 503 DanielBarry........................... 464 NeilMcCance......................... 465 RichardCathcart.................... 386 KeithCronin........................... 367 JonathanSparks.................... 218 MilesJohnston....................... 199 JonathanGreer....................... 1410DavidMeredith....................... 11

Co-drivers1 MartinBrady.......................... 562 KevinRae............................... 513 CraigDrew............................. 424 GregShinnors........................ 325 GrahamHopewell................... 326 MarkBowens......................... 287 ChrisDavies........................... 218 PaulWakely........................... 209 DaiRoberts............................ 1910 IanBevan............................... 14

Championship

1 NikElsmore/CraigDrew MitsubishiEvo............ 1:02:19.32 DanielBarry/MartinBrady MitsubishiEvo............ 1:02:26.93 NeilMcCance/GrahamHopewell MitsubishiEvo............ 1:02:29.64 JonathanGreer/DaiRoberts MitsubishiEvo............ 1:03:22.75 DavidBogie/KevinRae MitsubishiEvo............ 1:04:11.26 JonathanSparks/ChrisDavies MitsubishiEvo............ 1:09:34.8

RetirementsKeithCronin/GregShinnors-AccidentThomasNaughton/AlexKihurani-Accident

RD7 REsULTs

Wordssimon slade

PICTUrEscmwi.net

Nik Elsmore did all he could to secure the title by being the first Mitsubishi home but, by ending the season on exactly the same points total, Bogie claims the series victory by virtue of scoring more highly on the opening round.

Starting and finishing in Oswestry, with all of the event’s six stages and 65 competitive miles taking place in the north Wales forests, the Bulldog Rally provided a challenging arena for this year’s Evolution Challenge finale. As well as Bogie and Elsmore, three other drivers were in with a mathematical chance of taking the title: Neil McCance, Daniel Barry and Keith Cronin.

Knowing that he would have to win and have others falter if he was to succeed, Cronin was on a mission right from the start and went through the first stage a staggering 28 seconds quicker than his closest rival, McCance. His pace was such that he also held second

place overall! However, the other potential champions were in hot pursuit, with Elsmore just 0.1 of a second further down and Barry a slender 1.2 seconds behind him.

But where was Bogie? A rock-hard brake pedal and almost no brakes meant he lost nearly a minute to the leader and most significantly he had dropped to seventh place. However, things

went better on the next stage and he passed Tom Naughton and Evo Challenge returnee Jonny Greer, to grasp the all-important fifth place.

As cars entered the first service halt in Dolgellau, the time sheets showed Cronin still out in front, with Elsmore now 15 seconds

behind in second. Barry was third, McCance fourth and then Bogie, who was now able to get his brakes checked by his team.

With a comfortable lead, Cronin set off on SS3 intent on not taking any risks, but even at his slightly reduced pace he was caught out on a deceptive bend two-thirds through the stage, when the car slid straight on, dropped into a ditch and slowly rolled onto its roof. Although only superficial damage was sustained, his Mitsubishi was stuck fast and his excellent run had come to an end.

Also retiring on the same stage was Tom Naughton, who admitted he was struggling to understand the pace notes, his American co-driver’s accent proving to strong on occasions. He too left the road and was unable to continue.

At the second service halt after stage three it was now Elsmore who held the lead, by ten seconds from McCance and then Barry, who was a further two seconds behind. Next came Greer, who had passed

david Bogie crossed the line of this year’s Bulldog rally to finish fifth behind Nik Elsmore, the event winner, in the final round of the Mitsubishi ralliart Evolution Challenge and, in doing so, became the 2008 Champion!

2nd: Daniel Barry & Martin Brady

Championship Winners: David Bogie & Kevin Rae

Bogie Bags The Big one

1st: Nik Elsmore & Craig Drew

ThaT was close! aT one poinT i ThoughT i wasn’T going To make iT, so as soon as i goT inTo fifTh place i jusT Took iT sTeadily, buT i came To do a job and i’m delighTed To win The evo challenge TiTle - david bogie


UK M

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www.evo-challenge.com |

Congratulations to David Bogie on becoming 2008 Champion and

to Nik Elsmore & Craig Drew for winning round 7 - the Bulldog Rally

2008 MITSUBISHI RALLIART EVOLUTION CHALLENGE

3rd: Neil McCance/Graham Hopewell

2nd: Daniel Barry/Martin Brady -2008 Champion Co-driver

Bogie, but with Cronin out it didn’t matter, the young Scot admitting he had now backed off to ensure he made it to the finish in fifth place. He was unlikely to be caught by Johnathan Sparks in sixth, who was now nursing his overheating car to the finish.

But the drama wasn’t over and, as he exited stage four, Bogie became aware that his car’s head gasket had started to leak, causing him to drive with one eye on the temperature gauge for the remainder of the event.

Positions at the front of the Evo Challenge field stayed the same for SS4 and SS5, but on the sixth and final stage, a final push by Barry saw him edge ahead of McCance to take second place behind Elsmore, who was a little disappointed not to become champion, but very pleased with his day’s work.

“I did all I could to take the title by winning today, but it depended on David (Bogie) finishing sixth or lower,” said Elsmore. “I’m not too disappointed though, as the event has gone really well and the car ran perfectly. It’s been an excellent season and great to be battling for

the title right up to the end. I’m looking forward to coming back for more next season.”

Crossing the line in fifth place, a delighted and relieved Bogie said, “That was close! At one point I thought I wasn’t going to make it, so as soon as I got into fifth place I just took it steadily. It was really difficult to know what speed to drive at and I would’ve liked to have

been up there with the rest, battling for position, but I came to do a job and I’m delighted to win the Evo Challenge title.”

Bogie will now go on to receive his award, which has recently been announced as a works drive in this year’s Rally GB. However, Mitsubishi is currently looking at other options, details of which will be confirmed in the next few weeks.

The Bulldog Rally also saw

the conclusion of the Co-drivers Championship, the title going to Martin Brady, who partnered Richard Cathcart earlier in the season, before joining Daniel Barry for the final two rounds. The outcome also sees Barry take the PIAA Junior Award for under 25-year old drivers and Elsmore win the Performance Friction Brakes Cup.

The 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is backed by Mitsubishi Motors UK and Ralliart, with support from its associate sponsors: Pirelli tyres, Speedline Corse wheels, Sparco racewear, Performance Friction Brakes, Sunoco Race Fuels, ADR Motorsport, Walkinshaw Performance and PIAA lights, who sponsor the junior award for under 25 year old drivers.

3rd: Neil McCance & Graham Hopewell 4th: Jonathan Greer & Dai Roberts


Opel Manta

The Plastic Fantastic...

On the National scene, Charlie Donnelly, Niall Maguire, John Spain, Ed O’Callaghan, Donal O’Donovan, Seamus Heron and Ed Synan have all entertained us on the stages with their sideways ‘half the car in the ditch’ driving.

Many people reading this will be able to add more names to the list above, but it was the Manta that was the star of the show on the stages. Opel had to wait until 1st May 1983 before FISA (FIA) gave it the offi cial stamp, and the Manta made its world debut in Corsica, driven by Guy Frequelin. It lasted only 100 miles before the head gasket failed.

Jimmy McRae fi nished 6th on

the Welsh Rally, which was the Manta’s fi rst UK outing. While the Manta didn’t achieve much international fame (apart from nearly winning the Safari), it did make headlines during the Mille Pistes International Rally in France. Henri Toivonen was leading the rally in his Manta when the organizers decided to ban prototypes while the event was underway! Toivonen was forced to settle for a consolation trophy.

What made the Manta so special on the stages was the use of fi breglass body panels. � e front wings, bonnet, doors, rear arches, boot lid and

spoiler were all made from this lightweight material and it saved 80kg - making the Manta more competitive than the Ascona.

Cosworth made the Manta’s engine and it produced 275bhp in phase 3 format. � is was achieved with a pair of 50 DCOE Weber carburettors (rather than the 48s on the phase 2 engine) with ‘wilder’ cams. All the really worthwhile power came in at 5000rpm and 275bhp arrived at the 7,200rpm mark. 0 to 60 was in under 5 seconds.

In 1981 23 Manta Bs were built, then 80 more in 1982 and 140 post-facelift models were made in 1983. � e last two Mantas were built in 1984. � e very last works-built Manta 400 (D902 RGS), used by Andrew Wood, is at the Griffi n Trust in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England.

A one-off four wheel drive Manta 400 was built and is now owned

The Manta 400 was an iconic rally car for motorsport fans who grew up in the early 1980s. The battles between Billy Coleman, Austin MacHale, Jimmy McRae, Bertie Fisher and Russell Brookes in Manta 400s will be discussed by generations of rally fans for many years to come.

Technical Specifi cations

EngineCosworth, four cylinder in-line, 95mm bore, 85mm stroke giving a capacity of 2410cc.Steel crankshaft, light alloy head with twin overhead camshafts and 16 valves.Mobil 1 dry sumped lubrication and twin oil coolers.Twin 50 DCOE Weber carburettors, and a four into one exhaust manifold. Bosch electronic ignition.Power: 275bhp (206kW) at 7,200rpmTorque: 220lbft (300Nm) at 5,200rpm

TransmissionTwin plate clutch, Getrag 5 speed gearbox, direct top, driving a heavy duty rear axle with ZF limited slip di� erential.Final drive ratios were available in 3.18:1 through to 5.17:1 depending on application.

SuspensionWishbones and coil springs with an anti-roll bar at the front.Five link rear axle with coil springs.Bilstein gas fi lled shock absorbers.

BrakesDual circuit AP callipers with vented discs.Adjustable pedal box.Front disc diameter 290mm, rear 278mm. Hydraulically operated with a cable handbrake.

BodyManta 400 2 door coupe with integral roll cage and sump guard.Fibreglass bonnet, boot lid, front wings, doors and all spoilers.Recaro seats, Sabelt seat belts.

Steering, Wheels & TyresHigh ratio rack and pinion, 2.7 turns lock to lock.Opel 15” alloy wheels, 5 stud fi xing with 5” to 8” wide rims.135-250TR290 radial competition tyres

ban prototypes while the event was underway! Toivonen was forced to settle for a consolation

What made the Manta so special on the stages was the use of fi breglass body panels. � e front wings, bonnet, doors, rear arches, boot lid and

(D902 RGS), used by Andrew Wood, is at the Griffi n Trust in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England.

A one-off four wheel drive Manta 400 was built and is now owned

Bertie Fisher

Austin MacHale


with

Ray G

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The Plastic Fantastic...by a member of the Group B Club. � is Manta prototype did appear in Sweden before that country’s international rally in 1983 and was shown to a select gathering of motoring press as something of a publicity stunt. Its concept was simplicity itself - using the Ferguson System as the only modifi cation to the car’s Group B specifi cation. In the ensuing tests with Ari Vatanen, the car proved more driveable than a Quattro, but it was unfortunately a stillborn project.

DPP 117Y is the only right hand drive Manta 400 and its lucky owner is Tom Higgins of Aberdeen. It was originally proposed that the 400 be made available in the UK in right hand drive, with a total of 25 for the 1982 model. Unfortunately, this was not agreed, as Opel would only build left-hand drive cars. DPP 117Y became the Vauxhall/Opel marketing display car. It was built

primarily

for UK type approval, which was attained in January 1983. It was fi rst seen by the public at the 1983 Motor Show. After that, the car was used by GM Motorsport as a “rally replica,” as was the AC Delco 400 of Jimmy McRae and the 400 of Andrew Wood.

When the 400s fi nished rallying in 1987, it was put into storage at the GM Sport workshops in Northampton. � ere it remained until being saved by the Vauxhall dealer, � urlby Motors, in Lincs. Fully restored back to all its glory, it is now in the safe hands of Tom Higgins. � is right drive Manta is based on a Manta B 400 with a 2.4 16v engine, and has just under 20,000 miles on the clock. � e car is fi nished in Polar White with the door stripes. It is the only one of its kind and is therefore priceless.

When Opel joined forces with German tuner Irmscher and engine builder Cosworth in Britain to make the Manta 400, no one would

have thought that what they were creating would became an

icon in rallying circles throughout the world. � e Manta 400 was the dream car that led many young men to take up rallysport.

this was not agreed, as Opel would only build left-hand drive cars. DPP 117Y became the Vauxhall/Opel marketing display car. It was built

primarily

door stripes. It is the only one of its kind and is therefore priceless.

When Opel joined forces with German tuner Irmscher and engine builder Cosworth in Britain to make the Manta 400, no one would

have thought that what they were creating would became an

Vincent Bonner

Russell Brooks

Stephen Mawhinney

Jimmy McRae

Pentti Airikala

Anthony O’Halloran

Martin O’Keefe

Andrew Nesbitt

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System Signs RallyClubman action from Enniskillen

It was only a matter of time before young Alistair Fisher had his name engraved on a rally winner’s trophy. He had been angling for the top spot for quite some time, and this year’s two-wheel-drive only System Signs Clubman Stages Rally provided the Fermanagh youngster with the perfect opportunity!

In capable hands, a Ford Fiesta ST is a potent package, and Fisher proved it at the early October event. He struggled to match the pace of the more powerful Escort men at the start, but once he got into his groove, Fisher and navigator Barry McNulty were matching their times.

It was Stewart Clarke and Desmond Dolan who took the early lead from Damian Toner and Paddy McCague. Clarke accelerated into a two second lead from Toner, with Fisher a further eight seconds adrift in his front-wheel-drive Fiesta. � en he moved up a gear, and on stage two he was only one second slower than his rivals, before equalling the fastest time set by Toner over the third test!

While Toner and Clarke were tied for the rally lead, Fisher was only nine seconds adrift. � en Toner hit trouble on stage fi ve, retiring from the event, while Fisher set fastest time. He was now only six seconds in arrears and Clarke

realised he was going to have his work cut out to stay in front. Clarke also had a one minute penalty hanging over his head, but was confi dent of getting it removed.

Clarke and Fisher were equal fastest through the sixth stage and then Clarke made his move, going 14 seconds faster on stage seven. It looked as though he had the rally victory in the bag, only for an off road excursion on the fi nal stage to relegate him to the sidelines.

“� ere had been a really heavy downpour,” Clarke recalled, “and about two corners from the fi nish, we just aquaplaned straight on at a hairpin. � at was our rally over. We were going to appeal the one minute penalty for jumping the start of a stage by 0.2 of a second, and I’m sure we would have got it sorted, as I defi nitely went on the

green light…but that’s the way it goes!”

Fisher also had an off road excursion of his own during the event, but he survived to tell the tale. In the end, he claimed the rally victory by 26 seconds from Harold Brown and Bartley Downey, with Fabian McAleer and James � ompson third.

“It’s nice to get my fi rst overall win!” an ecstatic Fisher told Pacenotes. “It rained heavily all day so it was very challenging. At one point I was very lucky to stay on the road at a 6 right – she just nosed towards the ditch but I kept the power on and we got out of it.”

ClassesIn the class battles, Shane

McGirr and Stephen O’Hanlon fi nished sixth overall and won

class one from Marc Johnston and Colin Harkness. Brian Crawford and Finian Hannigan won class two from Darragh Kelly and Gerry Hughes, while Adrian McElhinney and Stephen Furey won class three from Terence McGonagle and Mark Curran

Michael McDaid and Dair Maguire won class four from Ian McCutcheon and Trevor Elliott, while Harold Brown and Barley Downey topped the class fi ve standings from Fabian McAleer and James � ompson. Finally, Alastair Fisher and Barry McNulty topped the class six tree from Niall McGrath and � omas Nugent.

Fishers First...

1 Alastair Fisher/Barry McNulty Ford Fiesta ........................ 36.232 Harold Brown/Bartley Downey Vauxhall Astra ................... 36.493 Fabian McAleer/James Thompson Ford Escort ....................... 37.264 Alastair Cochrane/Rodney Hicks Ford Escort ....................... 37.275 Trevor Lancashire/Domhall Lennon Ford Escort Mk2 ............... 37.356 Shane McGirr/Stephen O’Hanlon Toyota Starlett .................. 37.427 Niall McGrath/Thomas Nugent Honda Civic ...................... 37.488 Adrian McElhinney/Stephen Furey Citroen C2R2 .................... 38.109 Mervyn Wedlock/Patrick Robinson Ford Escort ....................... 38.2010 Andrew McCloone/Marc McGowan Ford Escort RS1800.......... 38.25

Who, Where, When?

These images are taken from the RallyRetro.com archives.Can you identify The Driver?, The Event? The Year?Remember it’s just for fun!! Good Luck

2

1

3

ONLINE IMAGE DATABASE

ANSWERS: 1- 1976 Donegal / Mike Rawson; 2- 1983 Donegal / Jack Lyons; 3- 1991 Ulster / Mika Sohlberg

64 pacenotes.netnovember 200864 pacenotes.netnovember 2008

ques

tiontim

e

1. When did you fi rst get behind a wheel?Daniel: About 23 years ago, driving about the house.

2. Who taught you to drive?Daniel: A bit like us all…I just climbed behind the wheel and between myself and my cousin, we just footered about!

3. Did you pass your driving test fi rst time?Daniel: Nope…third! No point in telling lies!

4. What was your fi rst road car?Daniel: It was a Mark 1 Escort and after that I bought a Manta, arched her, and put the decals on her to make her look like MacHale’s rally car!

5. What is your favourite road car?Daniel: � e Manta - I’ve always liked them and it was always an ambition to have one. In the back of my mind I’m thinking about building one.

6. Who were your motorsport heroes as a child?Daniel: Frank Meagher and Bertie Fisher.

7. Who would you rate as the top British or Irish rally drivers today?Daniel: Kris Meeke, Rodney Wilton and Ryan Barrett. I prepared Ryan’s car for him in England this year and

he was always fi ghting for overall positions.

8. What was your fi rst competitive event?Daniel: I think my fi rst event was the Hills of Donegal in a Sunbeam Ti. After the Sunbeam I bought a Manta, and then progressed to an Escort. Everything went well, although there was an odd wreck!

9. What is your worst memory in rallying?Daniel: Rolling this year in Monaghan. We went off early and broke a back brake disc, but tried to carry on. � en she stepped out on us and we rolled about fi ve times. It was my fi rst accident in about fi ve years!

10. What drive are you most proud of to date?Daniel: We’ve had good runs for the past couple of years. It was my fi rst time competing in the National Championship this year - we fi nished inside the top 20 in nearly all the rounds and had a lot of class wins. But I suppose Donegal in 2007 stands out for me. We were on the reserve list, but on the � ursday night before the event I got a text from my wife to say I was doing the rally. We fi nished 10th overall in the National and won our class!

11. What is your most frustrating memory in rallying?

Daniel: 1999 Donegal Rally - we were third in class and 19th overall before we went off in Inishowen. We were able to keep going, but ended up beaten by one second.

12. What are your plans for 2008/2009?Daniel: I’ve won the class in the Dunlop National this year and fi nished second in the Border championship, so hopefully I’ll get enough sponsors to do the two championships again next year!

13. What is your favourite event?Daniel: Donegal - it’s a home from home. I’ve won the Gerard Conroy Memorial Trophy three years in a row. He was a lad who was killed in an accident just outside Convoy and they created the trophy in memory of him.

14. What is your favourite rally car?Daniel: It’s hard to pass an Escort. Recently I had seven in the shed!

15. If you could change anything about current rallying rules/admin what would it be?Daniel: I think the new modifi ed trophy in the Irish Tarmac Championship is a good idea, as it helps ensure that the modifi ed men are recognised.

withDaniel Conaghan

Driver: Daniel ConaghanHeight: 5’5”Home: MilfordBirth date: 21st JanuaryOccupation: PostmanRoad car: Skoda OctaviaMarital status: Married to Elaine with two kids, Dean and Danielle.Hobbies: Danielle is riding ponies now so I support them as they support my rallying! Navigator(s): I ended up with three this year! James Gallagher, Gavin Gallagher and Trevor Graham.

Sponsors: Diver’s Hardware (Milford), Sweeney Scaffolding, HeatMerchants, Cyber World, Kumho Tyres, JD Recovery Services, McLaughlin Taxis, Flite Business Services, HASS, Atlantic Construction, KS Windscreens, Ann’s Talk of the Town restaurant, Wash Day Laundrette.Anything else you want to say: Thanks to all the boys who help throughout the year, especially Lexie Diver. He’s the backbone of the team, takes the car the scrutiny and helps me out hugely. Only for him, the rest of the boys, my navigators and my sponsors, I wouldn’t be there.

factfi lefact

Dan The Man…


Fast Road Camshafts, exchange (pair) £190.00Race/Rally Cams, on new blanks (pair) £365.00Cam follower conversion kit (set) £114.00QED Hi-Flo inlet valves (set) £108.00QED Hi-Flo inlet valves, +1mm (set) £108.00QED Exhaust valves, +1mm (set) £108.00Colsibro valve guides, GM head (set) £96.00Colsibro valve guides, Coscast (set) £102.40Race quality valve springs (set) £90.00Main bearings, from (set) £45.00End bearings, from (set) £40.00Water pump (each) £40.00

Forged pistons, 86mm-88mm (set) £360.00Steel con rods (set) £625.00Steel flywheels, various, from (each) £105.00Clutch plates, from (each) £67.95Cam belt kits, early or late type from £85.50Cast shallow wet sump (each) £195.00Standard head gasket (each) £15.00Trilam heavy duty head gasket (each) £89.00Inlet gasket (each) £5.00Exhaust gasket (each) £10.00Fast road plug set (set) £14.00Direct to Head Throttle bodies (set) £475.00

All prices are in pounds sterling and do not include carriage or VAT

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Escort Mk 1&2 Alloy Water RadiatorThis is designed to keep big Millington engines cool in the forest. We also do a bigger one if you want to do the Safari Rally.

Escort Fuel Tank Foam fi lled with internal petrol swirl pot for fuel injected engines.

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Our Metro 6R4 Dry sump tank is a no compromise design to ensure you will not suffer surge or air in the oil. This may be an expensive tank, but so is the engines. As used by John Price Rallying.

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Nick Elliott and Dave Price claimed the victors spoils in this battle of Ford Escort Mk2s but only after a close battle with the Volvo powered version of Ieuan Rowlands and Emyr Hall writes Phil James.

When these two crews completed the opening Dyfnant nine miler, separated by no more than half a second, it was clearly going to be a close call as to who would win. It was even closer after 13 miles in Gartheiniog where Rowlands was fractionally quicker, reducing the defi cit to a fi fth of a second. � ird at this point were Paul Walker and Vern Brown but a puncture on the

following stage would cost the Subaru Impreza pairing almost four minutes and they would fi nish the day in fi fteenth place. It was worse though for top seeds Keith Parry and Wyn Davies who had already crashed their Impreza into retirement on the opening test.

Rowlands hit the top of the standings through the long 15.69 mile Dyfi stage but his overall advantage was no more than 0.3 of a second. Paul Davy and Roger Allan now slotted their Impreza into third place almost a minute behind Elliott. Henri Grehan and Chris Ridge, who were fourth at this point, would soon retire with

a broken exhaust on their Escort Mk2.

With rain giving the forest tracks a more slippery surface crews headed north to Bala for the Llangywer and Penllyn tests where the leading duo swapped times again. First blood went to Elliott, giving him a 3.2 second advantage with only the nine mile Penllyn stage remaining. Rowlands proved quicker, but not by enough, his faster time merely reducing his arrears to leave Elliott with a 1.3 second winning margin. With Davy fi rmly ensconced in third and Grehan out of contention fourth place went to Jason Pritchard and George Gwynn, who edged their ex-Richard Cathcart Impreza ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 of Phil Newson and Sam Fordham. Tucked in behind these two crews for most of the day were Neville Jones and Ian Capewell who fi nished sixth in their Impreza. A last stage dash saw Escort WRC crew David Robinson and Kath

Rumney snatch seventh from the clutches of Stuart Clarke and Cliff Simmons who took H6 honours in their Escort RS1800. � e Bennett brothers, Scott and James, guided their Lancer Evo6 home ninth ahead of Phil and Jon Edwards in the Impreza.

Andy Davison clinched the RWD Challenge title after he and co-driver Laura Taylor fi nished 12th overall and top BMW in their 325i. Andy Fox and Tudor Jenkins put their 325i off at the same spot which claimed Keith Cronin in the national rally. Top 205 drive came from Russ � ompson and Andy Murphy who brought their Peugeot home in 22nd place.

Results1 Nick Elliott/Dave Price (Escort Mk2) 54m28.2s; 2 Ieuan Rowlands/Emyr Hall(Escort Mk2) 54m29.5s; 3 Paul Davy/Roger Allan (Impreza) 56m00.9s; 4 Jason Pritchard/George Gwynn (Impreza) 57m15.8s; 5 Phil Newson/Sam Fordham (Evo9) 57m36.2s; 6 Neville Jones/Ian Capewell (Impreza) 57m53.2s; 7 David Robinson/Kath Rumney (Escort WRC) 58m12.9s; 8 Stuart Clarke/Cliff Simmons (Escort Mk2) 58m18.8s; 9 Scott Bennett/James Bennett (Evo6) 58m36.1s; 10 Phil Edwards/Jon Edwards (Impreza) 58m40.1s.

2nd- Ieuan Rowlands/Emyr Hall

1st- Nick Elliott & Dave Price. PIC: Mick Pattison

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3rd: Willie Bonniwell & Kevin Rae

DNF: Denis Biggerstaff & Graham Thomson

2nd: Calum Duffy & Iain Duffy

1 PaulMacKinnon/DanielBarritt SubaruImpreza............ 02:17:172 CalumDuffy/IainDuffy FordEscortMk2.......... 02:17:263 WillieBonniwell/KevinRae SubaruImpreza............ 02:24:184 JamesMacGillivray/IanFraser FordEscortMk2.......... 02:25:185 TristanPye/KirstyRiddick SubaruImprezaN11.... 02:26:246 KrisHall/RichardMillener FordFiestaS.T............. 02:26:457 TonyBardy/RegSmith NissanSunnyGTI......... 02:26:538 DavidMiller/AndrewBailey SubaruImpreza............ 02:30:379 TugsSherrington/SamBould MitsubishiLancerEvo.. 02:32:0010 WayneSisson/DanielStone MitsubishiLancerEvo.. 02:32:29

RESULTS

Paul MacKinnon and Daniel Barritt have won the closest fought Tunnock’s Tour of Mull Rally in many years! Just nine seconds separated them from four-time-winners Calum and Iain Duffy, after 150 miles of stages on what is regarded as the toughest challenge in UK club rallying!

The 24-year-old from Tobermory, in only his third season of rallying, led from the first stage on the Friday evening, but victory was only decided on the final stage in the early hours of the Sunday morning.

Going into the final stage, MacKinnon had 38 seconds in hand

over Duffy, but a muddy patch caught him out and his Subaru plunged off the road. 30 seconds were lost as MacKinnon struggled to regain the road and set off in a bid to save his first outright rally victory.

Despite a mighty impressive effort over that last 12 mile test, Dervaig’s Duffy had to give best to MacKinnon. He finished second in his Mark 2 Escort, while completing the local domination of the island rally were Oban’s Willie Bonniwell and Pennygown’s James MacGillivray.

Bishop Auckland’s Tristan Pye was fifth, but the drive of the rally came from 19-year-Kris Hall. In only his second season of rallying, the Appleby youngster drove the wheels off his

Ford Fiesta to finish an incredible sixth.

But those were the lucky ones. Neil MacKinnon (Paul MacKinnon’s dad) failed to add to his record tally of 12 wins on the island, when his Subaru quit on the very first stage of the rally. John Cope (Bury) was in contention too, ‘til he fell victim to the slippery conditions and slid off the road, but unlike MacKinnon, he remained stuck fast in the peat.

Daniel Harper (Nelson) too was in the hunt for honours, but clipped a rock in Gribun and almost tore a wheel off. Eddie O’Donnell (Salen)

finished, but lost time changing a gearbox on the Saturday evening. Dougi Hall (Kris Hall’s dad) also fell victim to the slippery conditions and failed to finish, while Paul Kirtley (Harrogate) broke an exhaust manifold.

In terms of the Irish, a number of crews made the trip to the event, including Dromara’s Denis Biggerstaff. With WRC cameraman Graham Thomson on the notes, their dreams of another top finish were dashed on only the opening stage, when the Subaru punctured. He stopped to change the wheel, only to get another puncture, losing six minutes in the process.

Biggerstaff was lying in 134th

position after his dramas, but mounted a huge comeback drive. He was lucky to survive a major moment at more than 100mph after a jump over a bridge, and despite some brake troubles, he looked set for a top 10 result come the final leg. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side, as clutch failure sidelined his Subaru at the start of the final stage.

As for Wesley Patterson and Martin McGarrity, stomach problems resulted in their rally coming to a premature end. The Lisburn driver was feeling rough and decided to call it a day before the end of the opening leg.

“The same thing happened to me at the end of Killarney this year,” Patterson told Pacenotes. “For some reason, when I get bumpy, jumpy stages, I can’t keep my food down. But it was a good event, well run, with a really enthusiastic bunch of guys. Hopefully I can get my stomach sorted, as I can’t see myself playing golf for the rest of my life!”

Monaghan’s Gerry Cassidy and Paul Sheridan also retired their Escort after stage six, so that left Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor upholding Irish honours. They went on to finish 23rd overall with their Starlet, ensuring the Irish received recognition for their efforts!

And finally, one of the advantages of having a firm like Tunnock’s as rally sponsors became apparent at the rally finish in the early hours of a cold and damp Sunday morning. There were free hot and succulent traditional Tunnock’s Scotch Pies for every driver, co-driver and rally official - handed out by staff. A perfect end to a perfect event!

Sweet Victory For MacKinnon…

For some reason, when I get bumpy, jumpy stages, I can’t keep my Food down. but It was a good event, well run, wIth a really enthusIastIc bunch oF guys - wesley patterson

Winners: Paul MacKinnon & Daniel Barritt

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Kevin Proctor and David Bellerby powered their Subaru Impreza S7 to victory finishing over a minute ahead of the MG Metro 6R4 of Robert Lowe and Stephen Shephard.

With Proctor spinning off on the opening test it was left to Eddie Turner and Dean Russell to set the early pace in their Metro 6R4. Lowe then took top spot after SS2, holding it for two stages before Proctor took control for the rest of the proceedings.

Gwaine Clark and David Kirkbright edged their Impreza ahead of Turner after SS4 before any threat the Metro could offer expired when it crashed out after collecting a puncture on SS6. Jamie Elston and Shaun Ridlington almost grabbed third with a late charge but in the end the Impreza crew had to settle for fourth. Ian Pashley and Steve Ashley completed the top five in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6.

There was close contest for sixth between a pair of Escort Cosworth crews who traded seconds throughout the day and it required the tie-break rule to separate them at the finish. Andrew Varley and Bob Charmbury finished ahead of David Campling and James Ducker thus proving the seeding committee absolutely correct as they were seeded as cars six and seven respectively!

Ray Brammer and Matthew Whattam ended the day eighth after suffering differential problems and collecting a two minute penalty with their Impreza. Class 3 winners Dave Hemmingway and Jim Plevey finished ninth and first two-wheel drive car benefitting from Chris Woods and Simon Ashton retiring their Vauxhall Astra with a broken driveshaft. A late charge from Mark Wilkinson and Kevin Ryalls secured tenth place for the Lancer Evo6 crew as Chris Cawthorne and Roger Laister were relegated to 11th in their Impreza.

David and Matt Wood took a convincing class 1 win guiding their Vauxhall Corsa home over three minutes ahead of Malcolm Barker and Michael Rust’s Austin Mini. The battle for honours was much closer in class 2 where Richard Hall and Jonathan Hudson guided their Proton Satria to a 20 second victory over the Peugeot 205 of early leaders Nigel Powell and Nathan Marriott.

Results1 Kevin Proctor/David Bellerby (Subaru Impreza S7) 53m12s; 2 Robert Lowe/Stephen Shephard (MG Metro 6R4) 54m27s; 3 Gwaine Clark/David Kirkbright (Subaru Impreza) 55m44s; 4 Jamie Elston/Shaun Ridlington (Subaru Impreza) 55m53s; 5 Ian Pashley/Steve Ashley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 56m34s; 6 Andrew Varley/Bob Charmbury (Ford Escort Cosworth) 56m43s; 7 David Campling/James Ducker (Ford Escort Cosworth) 56m43s; 8 Ray Brammer/Matthew Whattam (Subaru Impreza) 56m48s; 9 Dave Hemmingway/Jim Plevey (Ford Escort Mk2) 57m02s; 10 Mark Wilkinson/Kevin Ryalls (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 57m24s.

Class Award Winners: 1: David Wood/Matt Wood (Vauxhall Corsa); 2: Richard Hall/Jonathan Hudson (Proton Satria Kit Car); 3: Hemmingway/Plevey; 4: David Patrick/Martin Blood (Opel Manta); 5: Elston/Ridlington.

Proctor Powersto Palin Victory!

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Stuart Deeley and Alistair Dodd chalked up another win at Wigan bringing their Lotus Banks Europa home 26 seconds ahead of the Ford Escort Mk2 of Brian Hardman and Paul Jackson.

Deeley went straight into an opening stage lead but Hardman reversed their respective standings after going two seconds quicker on the second test. Deeley levelled the scores after SS3 before taking a seven second advantage when Hardman spun on SS4 and went backwards through the flying finish. Another spin by Hardman on SS5 just about decided the final outcome even though the rally hadn’t reached its halfway point. Deeley now had a 19 second cushion and was virtually uncatchable.

Whilst the battle for overall honours was all but decided there was a real scrap going on for third place with five crews trading times in a fight for the final rung on the podium.

When Kevin Jones and Rosalind Goodall spun their Escort Mk2 on SS3 John Deegan and Phil Merrills edged the Honda Civic Type R into third but by the end of SS5 they too were demoted. Ron Aiken and Brian Neale took control in their Escort Mk1 but Deegan snatched it back after SS6 before losing it again on the following test. This time it was Keith Davies and Ian Cooper, who were sporting a new 2.0L Vauxhall engine in their Escort Mk2, who were heading the pack and they did so for three stages.

All the while Peter Tattersall and Stephen Riley were in the mix but when their Mk2 developed gearbox problems on SS10 they eased back, settling for sixth and securing the inaugural 3 Sisters Challenge championship crown.

Aitken then regained third place after SS11, holding it to the finish with Deegan and Davies both two seconds in arrears and only separated by the tie-breaker. Jones finished behind Tattersall with the Nissan Micra RWD of Stuart Gilks and Mark De Spong finishing in eighth place.

With their early handling problems sorted John ‘Ric’ Wood and John Wood secured ninth with a late charge edging their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4 ahead of the Escort Mk2 of Keith Dowthwaite and Tony King.Results1 Stuart Deeley/Alistair Dodd (Lotus Banks Europa) 28m57s; 2 Brian Hardman/Paul Jackson (Ford Escort Mk2) (Lotus Banks Europa) 29m23s; 3 Ron Aiken/Brian Neale (Ford Escort Mk1) 29m44s; 4 John Deegan/Phil Merrills (Honda Civiv Type R) 29m46s; 5 Keith Davies/Ian Cooper (Ford Escort Mk2) 29m46s Peter Tattersall/Stephen Riley (Ford Escort Mk2) 29m54s; 7 Kevin Jones/Rosalind Goodall (Ford Escort Mk2) 29m58s; 8 Stuart Gilks/Mark De Spong (Nissan Micra RWD) 30m05s; 9 John Ric Wood/John Wood (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4) 30m20s; 10 Keith Dowthwaite/Tony King (Ford Escort Mk2) 30m21s.

Class Award Winners: 1: Stephen Johnson/David Barratt (Nissan Micra); 2: John Cross/Kristopher Pirie (Citroen Saxo); 3: Deegan/Merrills; 4: Gilks/De Spong.

Deeley Dodd Duo take Wigan Win Again!

With Peter Lloyd and Graham Handley withdrawing their Subaru Impreza WRC through a lack of oil pressure it left the way for father and daughter pairing Robert and Laura Tout to take the honours in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9.

Standing water on the early stages caused all sorts of problems with a string of early retirements due to both accidents and water related engine and electrical problems.

Gwyndaf Jenkins and Llinos Jones-Edwards were quickest from the off with their Darrian T90 setting a time 13 seconds faster than the Impreza of Nigel Jones and Eurig Howells. Lancastrians Chris Marshall and Simon Hunter, who finished third here last year, were a further three seconds down in their Lancer Evo5.9 with the Touts four seconds behind in fourth place.

Both Marshall and Tout then set about closing in on Jenkins and when the Evo9 pilot set a second successive fastest time on SS4 the lead was his. Tout then continued to set fastest times on the remaining two stages with Marshall, who had matched Tout’s time on SS5 after being baulked by slower cars on earlier tests, securing second place by the finish. Jenkins, who had suffered a puncture on SS4 and a broken wheel on SS5, finished third.

Lancer Evo6 crew Melvin Davies and Alun Lewis improved their standing throughout the day and after setting third fastest time on all three final stages finished the day in fourth place. The Subaru Impreza of Alan Bowen and Jason Sugden fell victim to the charging Evo6 slipping to fifth on the final stage.

Nigel and Ken Gibbard finished sixth in the mis-firing Darrian T90 with a comfortable margin ahead of daughter and father pairing Sara and Jonathan Williams in the Honda Civic Type-R. Finishing eighth overall Alan Williams and Dylan Jenkins were just three seconds behind in their Ford Escort Mk2.

Colin and Katie Davies took the class 2 spoils bringing their Escort Mk2 home ninth but only thanks to the tie-break rule. Matching their accumulative time were Simon Bevan and Hefin West but the Vauxhall Astra crew had been slower than their rivals on the opening stage.Results1 Robert Tout/Laura Tout (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 1hr14m43s; 2 Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5.9) 1hr15m22s; 3 Gwyndaf Jenkins/Llionos Jones-Edwards (Darrian T90) 1hr16m16s; 4 Melvin Davies/Alun Lewis (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 1hr16m59s; 5 Alan Bowen/Jason Sugden (Subaru Impreza) 1hr17m09s; 6 Nigel Gibbard/Ken Gibbard (Darrian T90) 1hr17m21s; 7 Sara Williams/Jonathan Williams (Honda Civic Type-R) 1hr19m00s; 8 Alan Williams/Dylan Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr19m03s; 9 Colin Davies/Katie Davies (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr19m31s; 10 Simon Bevan/Hefin West (Vauxhall Astra) 1hr19m31s.

Class Award Winners: 1: William John/Paul Seabourne (Vauxhall Nova); 2: Colin Davies/Katie Davies (Ford Escort Mk2); 3: Hefyn Thomas/Anthony Powell (Ford Escort); 4: Jenkins/Jones-Edwards; 5: Marshall/Hunter; 6: James Eavns/Jenny Evans (Mazda 323); 7: Neal James/Kevin Jones (Ford Escort Mk1).

Touts Triumph as Lloyd Lacks Pressure!

Event: Harold Palin Memorial Stages. Date: 04/10/08. Venue: Manby, Lincolnshire. Surface: Concrete. Stages: 10. Stage Miles: 55. Organisers: Eastwood & District Motor Club. Championships: ANEMMC; EMAMC. Starters: 64. Finishers: 47.

Event: Keith A Wood Memorial Stages Rally. Date: 05/10/08. Location: Three Sisters Race Circuit, Nr Wigan. Surface: Tarmac. Stages: 12. Stage Miles: 24. Organisers: High Moor Motor Club. Championships: ANWCC; SD34; 3 Sisters Rally Challenge. Starters: 58. Finishers: 52.

Event: Peter Lloyd Rallying Stages. Date: 05/10/08. Venue: Welsh Motorsport Centre, Pembrey. Surface: Concrete & Tarmac. Stages: 6. Stage Miles: 50. Organisers: Carmarthen Motor Club. Championships: Welsh Clubmen; Welsh Historic; Welsh 2wd Escort Challenge. Starters: 74. Finishers: 49.

Winners: Robert Tout & Laura ToutWinners: Stuart Deeley & Alistair DoddWinners: Kevin Proctor & David Bellerby

www.rallyrev.com www.pro-rally.co.uk Ben Gilbert


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Gary Le Coadou and Paul Hollingham headed the standings throughout the day in their Toyota Celica GT4 to improve on their runners-up spot on last year’s event in fine style!

Their only problem came with a damaged front drive shaft and with that replaced after SS2 they recorded a winning margin of almost a minute ahead of Phil and Mick Gallagher’s MG Metro 6R4.

Chris Tilley and Lesley Moore offered an early challenge before a blocked exhaust forced their Metro 6R4 into retirement as did Ross Daniels and Paul Mankin before turbo trouble sidelined their Subaru Impreza. Peter Rayner and Richard Bonner put up a gallant effort in their Ford Escort Mk2 but had to settle for third overall after Gallagher secured second spot with four fastest stage times. Class E award winners Tony and Emma Hewitt completed the top five in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5.

Glyn Jarman and Darren Cansdale failed to improve on their fourth place here last year bringing their Impreza home in sixth place after setting top ten times for the rest of the day after a disappointingly slow opener. Escort RS2000 crew Stephen Tilburn and Jody Wilson snatched seventh on the final stage as they took 13 seconds from the Impreza of Justin Oliver and Claire Arbrey who only held onto seventh by virtue of the tie-break rule. Matching their total time were Lee Ashbury and Nathan Marriott who had started the last stage level pegging with fellow Escort crew Graham Sanson and Selmin Sevket. Having survived a couple of excursions earlier in the day Ashbury’s improved afternoon pace counted at the finish. Jim and Frank McArdle completed the top ten in their Ford Fiesta Cosworth.

An altercation with part of a tree that had been dragged onto the track by a previous car left Richard and Irene Lewsey to settle for 11th in their Escort Mk2. Tom Roberts and Paul Rees were happy to take 12th after a catalogue of problems that included broken gear linkage, an under bonnet fire, losing their rear bumper and differential problems with their Lancer Evo6, but hey, that’s rallying!Results1 Gary Le Coadou/Paul Hollingham (Toyota Celica GT4) 1hr21m22s; 2 Phil Gallagher/Mick Gallagher (MG Metro 6R4) 1hr22m20s; 3 Peter Rayner/Richard Bonner (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr23m10s; 4 Tony Hewitt/Emma Hewitt (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5) 1hr23m40s; 5 Glyn Jarman/Darren Cansdale (Subaru Impreza) 1hr24m28s; 6 Stephen Tilburn/Jody Wilson (Ford Escort RS2000) 1hr25m15s; 7 Justin Oliver/Claire Abrey (Subaru Impreza) 1hr25m18s; 8 Lee Ashbury/Nathan Marriott (Ford Escort) 1hr25m18s; 9 Graham Sanson/Selmin Sevket (Ford Escort) 1hr25m30s; 10 Jim McArdle/Frank McArdle (Ford Fiesta Cosworth) 1hr25m47s.

Class Award Winners: A: Oliver Doctrove/Stephen Scarborough (Ford Fiesta); B: Matthew Fowle/Dominic Worsfold (Ford Fiesta); C: Tilburn/Wilson; D: Sanson/Sevket; E: Hewitt/Hewitt.

Gary Grabs Glory With Woodbridge Win!

Jersey Rally debutants Anthony Wilmington and Andrew White took the winners’ laurels after guiding their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6 home a minute ahead of the Subaru Impreza belonging to James Harvey and Paul Arberry.

Early leaders James Hoseason and Maurice Jellie had to settle for third in their Darrian T90 GTR leaving fourth placed Jeremy Baudains and James Ollivro as top local crew in their Ford Escort Mk2.

The dubious honour of being first retirees went to Alan and Chris Thompson after they crashed their Escort Mk2 into a post on the opening La Brun test. Top seeds Simon Mauger and Lara Johnson soon followed them as their Escort Mk2 was running with an incompatible mixture of petrol and water whilst Adrian Smekss and Erik West crashed their Lancer Evo8.

David West and Keith Hounslow had been on the pace with a string of top ten fastest stage times including being quicker than anyone on stages eleven and twelve. Sadly they crashed their Peugeot 306 Kit Car out on the following test.

Saturday’s wet roads played directly into Wilmington’s hands as he quickly established an unassailable lead with a string of fastest stage times. The conditions also suited Harvey leaving Hoseason in third place. It was tough on the Darrian driver who had been overnight leader, despite losing time when a dislodged water bottle became stuck beneath his brake pedal.

Finishing behind Baudains was Stuart and Theresa Fossey who’s Escort Mk2 had suffered clutch problems. Sixth placed Stephen Leonard and Ben Andre completed a trio of Escorts that had been trading seconds throughout the two-day event.

Andy Baker and Lee Burgess came out on top in the battle for front wheel drive honours guiding their 205 GTi home seventh, 49 seconds ahead of the similar car of Andy Corner and Ade Camp. Sandwiched between the Peugeots was the Escort Mk2 of James Hansford and Andrew De la Cour with another Mk2 in the hands of Kevin Rumens and Kay Taylor completing the top ten. Tyson Flath and Rob Hannah, who had a misfire with their Impreza throughout Friday’s stages, were just two seconds behind in eleventh place.

Results1 Anthony Wilmington/Andrew White (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 1hr38m44s; 2 James Harvey/Paul Arberry (Subaru Impreza) 1hr39m44s; 3 James Hoseason/Maurice Jellie (Darrian T90 GTR) 1hr39m59s; 4 Jeremy Baudains/James Ollivro (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr40m39s; 5 Stuart Fossey/Theresa Fossey (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr40m45s; 6 Stephen Leonard/Ben Andre (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr40m53s; 7 Andy Baker/Lee Burgess (Peugeot 205 GTi) 1hr41m46s; 8 James Hansford/Andrew De La Cour (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr41m51s; 9 Andy Corner/Ade Camp (Peugeot 205 GTi) 1hr42m35s; 10 Kevin Rumens/Kay Taylor (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr43m06s.

Class Award Winners: 1: Stuart Thompson/Cathy Roberts (Vauxhall Nova); 2: James Patterson/Scott Romeril (Rover Metro); 3: Fossey/Fossey; 4: Baudins/Ollivro; 5: Tyson Flath/Rob Hannah (Subaru Impreza); 22: Baker/Burgess.

Wilmington & White Win Jersey!

Event: Hutton Kitchens Woodbridge Stages. Date: 11/10/08. Venue: MOD Woodbridge, Near Ipswich. Surface: Sealed. Stages: 8. Stage Miles: 60. Organisers: Chelmsford Motor Club & West Essex Car Club. Championships: AEMC. Starters: 68. Finishers: 49.

Event: Paperclix Jersey Rally. Date: 10-11/10/08. Venue: Jersey. Surface: Tarmac. Stages: 34. Organisers: Jersey Motor Cycle & Light Car Club. Starters: 88. Finishers: 59.

In a repeat of their success on this event last year Hugh Hunter and Andy Marchbank brought their ex Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC01 to victory with a run of five consecutive fastest stage times.

Michael O’Brien and Terry Moore had set the early pace, quickest through the opening pair of Portland tests in their Focus WRC to establish an 11 second lead over Hunter as crews set off for Sherwood. Donovan Jenkin and Ian Bass weren’t to make it to the Clipstone complex as they retired their Subaru Impreza WRC with head gasket failure.

Hunter hit back through Clipstone North wiping 10 seconds from O’Brien’s advantage before taking a further second from his rival in Clipstone South leaving the two Fords neck and neck as they headed for service. Chris and Roger Bown were hanging onto third place, a position the Lancer crew would maintain to the finish, but at this point the Impreza of Karl and Guy Simmons was in close contention.

Following service, crews headed back to Portland for what would be the longest stage of the day. Hunter used the 6.44 miles to best effect setting a time eight seconds up on Bown and more importantly nine seconds better than O’Brien.

With only a repeat of the earlier Clipstone tests remaining it was advantage Hunter and another brace of fastest stage times saw him finish the day 19 seconds clear of O’Brien. A hat trick of top three times saw Bown secure a comfortable third place ahead of Simmons who settled for fourth ahead of the Impreza of Chris Firth and Karen Watts. Behind Ian Pashley and John Hendley who finished sixth in their Lancer Evo6 the fight for seventh went to the wire. Having started the last stage on matching times only a second separated a pair of Imprezas at the finish with Keith Turner and Steve Ward finishing ahead of Phil Brown and Andy Morgan. Paul James and Derek Davies finished ninth in their Lancer Evo9 ahead of Errol Bairstow and Arthur Heaton who’s new Lancer Evo6 suffered throttle and anti-lag problems throughout the day.Results1 Hugh Hunter/Andy Marchbank (Ford Focus WRC) 37m46s; 2 Michael O’Brien/Terry Moore (Ford Focus WRC) 38m05s; 3 Chris Bown/Roger Bown (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 38m53s; 4 Karl Simmons/Guy Simmons (Subaru Impreza) 39m21s; 5 Chris Firth/Karen Watts (Subaru Impreza) 39m51s; 6 Ian Pashley/John Hendley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 40m38s; 7 Keith Turner/Steve Ward (Subaru Impreza) 40m42s; 8 Phil Brown/Andy Morgan (Subaru Impreza) 40m43s; 9 Paul James/Derek Davies (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 41m14s; 10 Errol Bairstow/Arthur Heaton (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) 41m36s.

Class Award Winners: 1: Gareth Clark/Peter Reeson (Vauxhall Corsa); 2: Jamie Anderson/Martin Auskerin (Peugeot 205 GTi); 3: John Stevens/Andrew Davies (Ford Escort Mk2); 4: Simon Smith/Silvia Earle (Ford Escort Mk2); 5: Simmons/Simmons.

Historic Award Winners: 1st Overall: Richard Lepley/Ian Bevan (Ford Escort Mk2); H6: Nigel Godden/Ian Orford (Ford Escort Mexico); H7: Richard Lane/Frank Richer (Ford Escort Mk2); H8: Steve Perez/Russ Langthorne (Lancia Stratos); H9: Jason Lepley/Howard Pridmore (Ford Escort Mk2).

Hunter takes Premier Position!

Event: Rallitrak 26th Premier Rally & Premier Historic Rally. Date: 26/10/08. Venue: Mansfield. Surface: Gravel. Stages: 7. Stage Miles: 38. Organisers: Dukeries Motor Club. Championships: EMAMC; ANEMMC; AEMC; MSA Regional Inter-Association Challenge. Starters: 48 (+ 12 Historics). Finishers: 34 (+ 11 Historics).

Winners: Anthony Wilmington & Andrew White Winners: Hugh Hunter & Andy MarchbankWinners: Gary Le Coadou & Paul Hollingham

www.mandh-photography.co.uk Fiona Le Gros Kevin Money


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Birr Forestry Rally

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WordsMartin Brady & Jonathan Macdonald

PICTUrEsJohn Bayly

Birr & District Motor Club were the hosts and the rally was supported by the Abbey Court Hotel and Nenagh Husqevarna Centre.

Torrential rain poured down on the night before the event and the stages, having been rested for many years, were now set to have even less grip. Remarkably, the surfaces held up better than expected and the juniors, first to tackle the stages, were greeted by very smooth but low grip tracks.

First seed in the main field was Ray Breen in his Focus WRC, with Martin Brady on the notes. Ray just needed a points finish to edge out rival and number four seed John Reid in his Corolla.

On SS1 it was Breen who was the fastest by 4 seconds from Trevor Harding in his GpA Subaru, and equal with Harding was Colin Britton as he set a clear lead in the GpN battle and tied for second o/a with Harding. Trevor had his Subaru re-liveried in a blue and green mixture, in homage to the Stobart WRC team and he was bedding himself in for a day of sideways action in the tricky conditions. John Reid took 3rd and just pipped Denis Cronin, the Cork ace was hampered badly however by a half spin in a narrow section, which forced him to reverse and manoeuvre his Subaru and lose a

lot of time. James Coleman in his Escort Mk2 took the early 2wd lead.

On stage two, Breen was caught out on the muck and his Focus slid off into the rough ground. Luckily there were no trees to catch and Breen just needed to plough the car back onto the road, with the benefit 4wd and use of the differentials. However, 17 seconds were wasted in the mire, and this gave Harding a

chance which he grasped with both hands - shooting into the lead of the rally.

At the first service halt it was Harding and co driver Andrew Purcell leading. Next was Breen, 13 seconds down, but now the champion elect was determined to make his pace even more subdued after his wake up call on SS2. Colin

Britton and Arthur Kierans held 3rd o/a thanks to another 3rd fastest time on SS2. John Reid and Enda Shiels were 4th and keeping at bay a resurgent Cronin.

In 2wd it was now Seamus O’Connell who led, as he got even more in the groove with his ‘fresh out of the box’ BDA Escort and new co-driver Sean Duggan. James Coleman was not far behind and he

was finding rear wheel traction in short supply, perhaps due to a new and more powerful engine - not the ideal thing on such a slippery day. Unfortunately his rally came to a halt on the next stage when he was blinded by the sun and slid into a ditch. There was no damage but he was parked for the day.

Harding, now in the groove, was

Breen Adds Woods Crown To Tarmac Tiara…After six rounds of challenging and exciting rallying, the Irish forests long and winding gravel roads led to an exciting finale in Nenagh for the Hankook National Forest Championship.

2nd: Trevor J Harding & Andrew Purcell

Winners: Ray Breen & Martin Brady

RESULTS

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1 RayBreen/MartinBrady FordFocusWRC............... 45:442 TrevorJHarding/AndrewPurcell SubaruImprezaWRX........ 45:493 DenisCronin/HelenO’Sullivan SubaruImprezaWRC........ 46:474 ColinBritton/KiearnsArthur MitsubishiLancerEvo....... 47:115 JohnReid/EndaShilds ToyotaCorollaWRC.......... 47:186 LiamRyan/JohnathanMcGrath SubaruImprezaWRX........ 48:387 SeanHeaney/LiamMcLaughlin MitsubishiLancerEvo....... 48:458 SeamusO’Connell/SeanDuggan FordEscortMk2............... 48:599 ConnieSmith/BreenMcNamee FordSierra........................ 49:4110 MossFitzgerald/AlistairWyllie ToyotaCorolla................... 49:4811 JohnReddington/StephenQuin MitsubishiLancerEvo....... 49:5112 GerardLucey/JamesLucey ToyotaCelicaGT4............. 50:0613 JasonRyan/TadghO’Sullivan HondaCivicVtec............... 50:1714 MarkMurphy/CarolO’Keefe SubaruImprezaWRX........ 50:1815 JohnMcLaughlin/RayFitzpatrick MitsubishiLancerEvo....... 50:2316 PeterWilson/JohnKilmurray HondaCivic...................... 50:3317 CraigBreen/SorchaKelly CitroenC2R2................... 50:4718 OllieWilliams/MichealWalsh FordEscortMk2............... 50:5519 JimmyDeane/BarryMeade FordEscortMk2............... 51:0420 PatrickCunningham/MartinCunningham HondaCivic...................... 51:19

to hold onto his 13 second lead over the next two stages, as he and Breen set equal times on both. Cronin turned up the pace and set a joint fastest time on SS4. He was now back in 3rd overall and 14 seconds up on GpN leader Colin Briton.

John Reid had a scare when his Corolla refused to restart at the end of SS3. It took him some time to get it lit - an electrical fault was discovered and repaired. He dropped position on the road but got into the next stage and was still in the championship race.

Liam Ryan was a strong 6th in his Subaru. This car was GpN spec and was in fact an ex Petter Solberg recce car. The Tipp forests were its first port of call after a glamorous WRC career!

It was Harding fastest on the first visit to the very slippery and grassy stage 5, by 2 seconds from Breen. Then Breen went 4 seconds faster on stage 6. The rally moved to a service in Nenagh town and Harding was still at the front, now by 11 seconds. Harding was confident that he could hold onto the lead, despite a worry about the gearbox jumping out of gear intermittently.

Cronin was revelling in the handling of his Impreza WRC and said for the first time he was happy with the feel of the car on gravel. He put this down to a problem his mechanics found and repaired in the centre diff.

John Reid and Enda Shiels had moved up to 4th. The Corolla now behaving itself after the morning

electrical scare and Reid was sitting ready in a position to take over the championship reins should Breen falter. Colin Britton and Arthur Kiearns held 5th and the GpN lead, just ahead of Seamus O’Connell and Sean Duggan, the 2wd leaders.

The final loop was a repeat of the two previous tests and despite the passage of a full field to clean away the loose and grassy top surface, there was plenty of opportunity to be caught out and end your event.

On SS7 Harding dropped 4 seconds to Breen. Trevor admitted to sliding off the road slightly - he was able to return back on track by letting the car run into a bank and bounce back onto the road. Jokingly, he quipped to co-driver Purcell, “I saved your life in there!”

This meant that going into the last stage, Trevor had a lead of just 7 seconds - the closest it had been all day. Breen has been in a last gasp battle for a win often, and he was now tempering his instinct to go for the win with the need to stay on the road and claim the vital few points for the championship victory. Harding said he would rather be

the hare, 7 seconds down, than the hound 7 seconds up, as at least then he would know how much to push. In any event, Breen tackled the stage with a determined pace that was still on the right side of safe.

Harding charged through the stage, but was distracted by smoking oil, which he thought was the engine, but in fact was the gearbox leaking. Harding was to drop 12 seconds to the Focus, and this allowed Breen to take a

last hurdle win in the rally. Breen gratefully took the points and claimed the 2008 Hankook Irish Forestry Championship crown.

Harding and Purcell took a slightly disappointed second, after a day where they held the lead from the second stage. It was a cruel blow to loose it at the final hurdle, however Harding had performed well. He had used his machinery to its absolute limit and entertained many in the process. Denis Cronin and Helen O’Sullivan took the next step on the podium, polishing what has been a bright debut year for them in the forests.

Winning Group N on the rally

3rd: Denis Cronin & Helen O’Sullivan 4th: Colin Britton & Kiearns Arthur

Trevor admiTTed To sliding off The road slighTly - he was able To reTurn back on Track by leTTing The car run inTo a bank and bounce back onTo The road. Jokingly, he quipped To co-driver purcell, i saved your life in There!

6th: Liam Ryan & Johnathan McGrath

8th: Seamus O’Connell & Sean Duggan

7th: Sean Heaney & Liam McLaughlin


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Class battles continued >>

and in the process the Hankook championship were Colin Briton and Arthur Kiearns - they took 4th o/a and just pipped 5th o/a John Reid, courtesy of a final stage spin for Reid. Reid had done enough to claim second in the championship and end what has been an impressive year for the Meath man, in his first full season in WRC machinery. Liam Ryan and Jonathan McGrath took their ex Solberg machine to a fine 6th o/a.

Seamus O’Connell and Sean Duggan took the 2wd victory. A big moment and a puncture slightly tempered their pace on the last two stages, but they still got the pristine BDA Escort to 8th o/a. Sean was replacing his brother Brian in the co drivers seat for the day and Seamus had vowed to scare Sean as much as possible on his guest appearance. It probably worked!

At the finish ramp a delighted Breen and Brady sprayed the champagne to celebrate a special victory. Not only had they won the event, but Breen, in becoming Hankook Champion, had also the accolade of being only the

second driver to win both the Irish National Forestry title and the National Tarmac title. Breen enjoyed an impressive ‘first’ in that he won both his national crowns driving the same Tom Gahan-prepared Ford Focus WRC.

5th: John Reid & Enda Shields

Class BattlesClass 1Seamus Cooke and Gerard Hyland took a start to finish victory in class one. They powered their Mark 2 Escort to the top of the leaderboard by more than half a minute on the first stage alone. That set the scene for the day, and in the end they won the category by more than five minutes from Tristan Horan and Keith Murray, with Barry and Paul Driver third.

Class 2Mick Nevin and Alan Higgins were the early class two leaders in their Escort. They were 11 seconds faster than Emmet Cronin and Mark Bownes on stage one, and had gradually extended that advantage by a further three seconds after stage four. Then Cronin started

fighting back, and going into the final stage, he was four seconds behind his rival. Fastest time saw Cronin grab the win at the last gasp, leaving Nevin to settle for second, ahead of Brendan Tyndall and Ger Cullen.

Class 3Moss Fitzgerald and Alistair Wyllie were equal fastest on stage one with Jimmy Deane and Barry Meade, but Fitzgerald made the number one spot his own on stage two. Fastest

by 10 seconds, he continued to extend his advantage, eventually winning the category by more than one minute from Deane and Meade. John Fleming and Donal Mullins completed the top three in their Escort.

Class 4The Benskins were back in action in class four, while Martin and Colm Brady also joined them with their MG ZR. It was Ray Benskin and Peadar Walsh who claimed the number one spot after stage one, only to swap positions with second placed Sean Benskin and Bobby Nugent. Positions switched again on stage three, once more after

CL1: Seamus Cooke & Gerard Hyland

CL2: Emmet Cronin & Mark Bownes

2nd CL1: Tristan Horan & Keith Murray 2nd CL2: Mick Nevin & Alan Higgins

CLASS RESULTS

Claa11 SeamusCooke/GerardHyland FordEscortMk2............... 52:092 TristanHoran/KeithMurray FordKA............................. 57:193 BarryDriver/PaulDriver SuzukiSwiftGTI................ 57:52

Class21 EmmetCronin/MarkBownes FordMK2......................... 53:332 MickNevin/AlanHiggins FordEscortMk2............... 53:423 BrendanTyndall/GerCullen Peugeot205GTi............... 58:09

Class31 MossFitzgerald/AlistairWyllie ToyotaCorolla................... 49:482 JimmyDeane/BarryMeade FordEscortMk2............... 51:043 JohnFleming/DonalMullins FordEscortMk2............... 52:21

Class41 RayBenskin/PeadarWalsh FordEscortMk2............... 52:272 SeanBenskin/BobbyNugent FordEscortMk2............... 53:11

CLASS RESULTS

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Class 51 Seamus O’Connell/Sean Duggan Ford Escort Mk2 ............... 48:59 2 Ollie Williams/Micheal Walsh Ford Escort Mk2 ............... 50:55

Class 61 Trevor J Harding/Andrew Purcell Subaru Impreza WRX ........ 45:49 2 Connie Smith/Breen McNamee Ford Sierra ........................ 49:413 Gerard Lucey/James Lucey Toyota Celica GT4 ............. 50:06

Class 71 Ray Breen/Martin Brady Ford Focus WRC ............... 45:44 2 Denis Cronin/Helen O’Sullivan Subaru Impreza WRC S6 ... 46:473 John Reid/Enda Shilds Toyota Corolla WRC .......... 47:18

Class 81 Colin Britton/Kiearns Arthur Mitsubishi Evo 9 ............... 47:11 2 Liam Ryan/Johnathan McGrath Subaru Impreza WRX ........ 48:383 Sean Heaney/Liam McLaughlin Mitsubishi Evo 9 ............... 48:45

Class 91 Jason Ryan/Tadgh O’Sullivan Honda Civic Vtec ............... 50:17 2 Peter Wilson/John Kilmurray Honda Civic ...................... 50:333 Craig Breen/Sorcha Kelly Citroen C2 R2 ................... 50:47

stage four, and again stage five!In the end, it was Ray Benskin and Peadar Walsh who won the tit-for-tat battle, finishing 44 seconds ahead of Sean Benskin and Bobby Nugent. Martin and Colm Brady had looked set to take third, but they retired their MG after the fifth stage.

Class 5Four crews entered class five, but just two reached the finish. James Coleman and Michael Haley grabbed the early lead, but one stage later it was Seamus O’Connell and Sean Duggan who were out in front. John Doolan and Derek Gibbs retired, leaving Ollie Williams and Michael Walsh in third position.

Coleman moved back into the top spot after stage three, but it was short-lived, as he retired one stage later. That left O’Connell holding a lead of more than one minute from Williams, so he arrived home as the victor, with Williams settling for second position.

Class 6Trevor J Harding and Andrew Purcell topped the class six tree at the finish, but as Harding finished inside the top three overall, he sacrificed his class award. Instead, Connie Smith and Breen McNamee claimed the class honours in their

Sierra, with Gerard and James Lucey second, ahead of Mark Murphy and Carol O’Keefe.

Class 7Event winners Ray Breen and Martin Brady topped class seven ahead of Denis Cronin and

Helen O’Sullivan, but both crews sacrificed their awards. That left John Reid and Enda Shields as the remaining class seven entrants, so they picked up the class spoils.

Class 8Colin Britton and Arthur Kierans claimed a start to finish victory in class eight. Britton powered his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 to the top after stage one and stayed there until crossing the finish line. Early second place holders Sean Heaney and Liam McLaughlin tussled with Liam Ryan and Johnathan McGrath for second in class, but it was Ryan who claimed the position at the finish, with Heaney taking third.

Class 9Damien McCarthy and Eamon Hayes were the early class nine leaders, after going fastest on the opening two stages. Then Jason Ryan and Tadgh O’Sullivan started fighting back, and they moved in front after McCarthy hit trouble on stage six. While McCarthy dropped to the bottom of the leaderboard, Ryan stayed at the top, claiming victory from Peter Wilson and John Kilmurray, with Craig Breen and Sorcha Kelly third.

2nd CL3: Jimmy Deane and Barry Meade

CL4: Ray Benskin & Peadar Walsh

2nd CL4: Sean Benskin & Bobby Nugent 2nd CL5: Ollie Williams & Michael Walsh

2nd CL6: Gerard & James Lucey

1st CL9: Jason Ryan and Tadgh O’Sullivan

2nd CL9: Peter Wilson & John Kilmurray


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1st Junior Driver1st Class N4 Driver

1 JamesGillen Subaru.............................. 99.582 JohnBustard Evo................................. 100.383 RobbieMcGurk Subaru............................ 103.394 EamonMimnagh Evo................................. 104.225 PaulHughes Escort............................. 105.696 GarethSawyers Nova............................... 105.807 WillieVance Evo6.............................. 106.278 PaulBritton Subaru............................ 107.129 AnthonyMcGuinness Evo................................. 107.1510 RonanCampbell Escort............................. 108.03

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PICTUrEsJohn o’Neill

RESULTS

4th: Eamon Mimnagh

5th: Paul Hughes

Winner: James Gillen

The stage, which was just over one mile in length, was tackled five times and it was Castlederg’s James Gillen who mastered the test. He powered his Subaru Impreza WRC to the top of the timesheets, claiming victory by almost one second.

But after the practice run, it looked as though John Bustard was on course for victory in his Evo. As it transpired, his opening run was his fastest drive of the day, setting the target for his rivals to beat.

Unfortunately for Bustard, Gillen was in determined form, as he edged closer to snatching the lead after each test. Then, over the fourth run, the Castlederg driver managed to swipe eight tenths out of Bustard’s fastest time, promoting him into the top spot.

Neither Gillen nor Bustard completed the final run, so Gillen’s time stood as the fastest of the day. John Bustard was the best of the rest in his Evo, and he finished comfortably ahead of Robbie McGurk’s Impreza. McGurk was running inside the top three for much of the day, but couldn’t quite find the extra pace needed to challenge the top two.

Behind McGurk, Eamonn Mimnagh was fourth in his Evo, and it was his fourth run over the stage allowed him to move ahead of Paul Hughes. The Mark 2 Escort pilot also topped the two-wheel drive field, after he secured his

fastest time over the opening run, as the muck and dirt made traction difficult to find in his Escort.

“That’s three years in a row we’ve finished top two-wheel drive,” a jubilant Hughes said after the finish. “It was very slippery – the first few corners were like ice. We only did three runs as the stage was getting slippier and our times were getting slower!”

“Gareth Sayers was going well in the Corsa,” Hughes continued. “The stage probably would have suited

a front wheel drive car a bit better, but at the end of the day, you have to drive it!”

Indeed, Gareth Sayers finished a slender one-tenth of a second adrift of Hughes. Sayers, who just returned home from Australia that morning, also finished sixth overall ahead of William Vance, with Paul Britton completing eighth. Anthony McGuinness finished ninth in his Evo while Ronan Campbell completed the top 10.

Competitors had to weather the storm at this year’s sayers Engineering Gortin Glen Hill rally Time Trial, with rain and wind a major feature of the event. organised by omagh Motor Club, 45 competitors lined up for the start on saturday 25 october.

2nd: John Bustard

3rd: Robbie McGurk

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Pacenotes Rally Magazine - 62

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Transcript of Pacenotes Rally Magazine - 62